4.10. WEDNESDAY SERIES 3 Helsinki Music Centre at 19.00

Rafael Payare, conductor Vilde Frang, violin

Hector Berlioz: Le carnaval romain, overture 9 min

Benjamin Britten: Violin Concerto in D Minor 31 min I Moderato con moto – Agitato – Tempo primo II Vivace – Animando – Largamente – Cadenza III Passacaglia

INTERVAL 20 min

Hector Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique 54 min I Reveries – Passions II A Ball III Scene in the Fields IV March to the Scaffold V Dream of the Night of the Sabbath

Interval at about 19:55. The concert ends at about 21:20. Broadcast live on Yle radio 1 and online at yle.fi/areena.

1 HECTOR BERLIOZ: BENJAMIN BRITTEN: (1803–1869) (1913–1976) VIOLIN LE CARNAVAL ROMAIN CONCERTO IN D MINOR Hector Berlioz (1803–1869) had more than his share of being misunder- The Violin Concerto by Benjamin stood; but rather than making him a Britten (1913–1976) is in three move- better artist, it chiefly made him more ments, but not quite in the tradition- frustrated, and he earned his living as al way. It may have been modelled on a critic. He just knew his works were Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1, the good, but time after time, performanc- prickly, never-halting middle move- es of them were a flop because of in- ment of which is in some way simi- competent musicians and conductors. lar. The Spanish Civil War had aroused His opera Benvenuto Cellini premiered gloomy thoughts in pacifist Britten in 1838 was one such ill-fated case, that merged with memories of the but five years later, he decided to res- Requiem-like violin concerto by Alban cue material from it in a concert over- Berg he had heard at a concert. ture called Roman Carnival. The result The timpani motif with which the may well be regarded as a showpiece Violin Concerto begins may call to demonstrating his masterly, romantic mind the beginning of Beethoven’s. handling of an orchestra. The first movement is dominated by The overture is like a steeplechas- a long, singing melody on the violin. er in the pink of condition that not The sharper, more rhythmical second even wild, bucking rhythms can halt theme ultimately plays a minor role, in its tracks. Berlioz’s orchestra glows but the rhythmic beat in the accom- in shimming shades; the strings gallop paniment returns in the second move- fearlessly ahead, the woodwinds chip in ment. with some neat solos and the brass are The scherzo-like middle movement an explosive yet not destructive force. updates demonic, fiddle virtuosity to The percussions further notch up a few the 20th century. Motifs mischievous- more decibels as the carnival really and ly prancing up and down are cleverly truly gets under way. matched by the orchestra, reinforcing Despite all its twists and turns, the pungent character of the music. Roman Carnival rests on strong classi- In the middle section, the solo violin cal foundations. The fiery start is a con- warbles up high with the piccolos and densed exposition of the quick section flutes, and a solo cadenza erupting to follow, but this soon makes way for from the glowering orchestra builds a a broad cor anglais melody borrowing bridge to the slow finale. from the opera’s love duet. A second At the beginning of the last move- theme emerges against the growing ment, a set of nine variations taking hubbub of the carnival. The Italian rev- in jolly dancing, optimistic solemnity elry breaks loose in a saltarello dance and decisive virtuosity, the trombones and the carnival gathers speed. 2 introduce a repeated bass figure that Reveries – Passions underpins the violin melody. The or- Fragments of a theme in the slow in- chestral exposition underlines the seri- troduction become lodged in the lis- ous, contrapuntal nature of the music. tener’s consciousness. Little spurts and The solo violin seems a bit forsaken in flashes of melancholy reflect a delicate these surroundings but picks up again frame of mind and seem to condense with an elegiac song. The movement in the call of distant French horns and ends with an epic coda. filigree violin figures. After these dra- matic gestures, Berlioz introduces an idée fixe, a portrait of the beloved that HECTOR BERLIOZ: will run right through the symphony. (1803–1869) Its charming melody is accompanied by low staccato strings – the artist’s SYMPHONIE pounding heart. FANTASTIQUE A Ball The composers of the Romantic era Harps lend the waltz in the second sought above all to give musical ex- movement a touch of glittering el- pression to ideas and ideals often bor- egance. The idée fixe appears in the rowed from literature. In the case of winds, only to be lost again in the the Symphonie fantastique by Hector whirling dance and to take its leave in Berlioz (1803–1869) the sources in- the clarinets just before the end of the clude Goethe’s Faust in the transla- coda. tion by Gérard de Nerval, Thomas de Quincey’s Confessions of an English Scene in the Fields Opium Eater, the Odes et Ballades by The idyll of Beethoven’s Pastoral Victor Hugo – and Shakespeare. Symphony has become an ambivalent Paris in 1872 was in thrall to an soulscape in the slow movement of the English theatre group and its Irish lead- Symphonie fantastique. Berlioz now uses ing lady Harriet Smithson playing the his lightest paintbrush and shifts the part of such characters as Ophelia, lighting around: cor anglais and oboe Desdemona and Juliet. Berlioz was to- unite in cautious optimism, while the tally smitten. Fêted by everyone in the timpani give the static, unreal mood an city, Miss Smithson failed to recipro- ominous feel. cate the sentiments of an unknown composer, however, so he poured out March to the Scaffold his passion and frustration in a sym- A once private drama now becomes phony instead. By some lucky chance, public. Interestingly, the core event in composer and actress later met again the work, a murder, is ignored, but the at a performance of the Symphonie punishment is described in detail. The fantastique in 1832 and were married offender is marched to the scaffold to a year later. the accompaniment of snarling brass;

3 the crowd gathered to watch the exe- great significance in the early stages of cution are shouting, an image of the his career. beloved flashes past in the clarinet and In 2012, Payare won first prize in the guillotine descends. the Nicolai Malko competition for young conductors. In the same year, Dream of the Night of the Sabbath his mentor, Lorin Maazel, invited him Hideous visions arise from the noctur- to conduct at his Castleton Festival in nal howls, gloomy snatches of melody Virginia, USA, and three years later he and sarcastic heckling in a nightmare became Castleton’s Chief Conductor. that climaxes on a travesty of the idée He has also been Chief Conductor fixe, a jeering song filled with clarinet of the Ulster Orchestra in Northern trills. A funeral knell tolls, followed by a Ireland. parody of the sombre Dies irae melody Charismatic Payare is nowadays that soon works up to a rowdy jig. one of the most sought-after young A bacchanalian orgy, extreme or- conductors. He has conducted the chestral effects and grotesquely dis- Czech, Vienna, Munich and Rotterdam torted themes turn the end into a sad- Philharmonic Orchestras, the London omasochistic dream. Love and beauty Symphony and Philharmonia, the are sacrificed on a pagan altar; desires Chicago Symphony and other orches- and the subconscious claim supremacy tras, and opera at, among others, the over reason and control. Royal Swedish Opera.

Programme notes by Antti Häyrynen VILDE FRANG translated (abridged) by Susan Sinisalo Born in in 1986, Vilde Frang was only 12 when the RAFAEL PAYARE conductor invited her to be the soloist with the Philharmonic Orchestra. Venezuelan conductor Rafael Payare She has since appeared with a host (b. 1980) was 14 when he began stud- of prestigious orchestras, and in 2012 ying the French horn in the famous El was the recipient of the Credit Suisse Sistema training scheme. He was in- Young Artist Award. spired to take up conducting after a Vilde Frank studied at the Baratt visit to Venezuela by the Italian con- Due Music Institute in Oslo, with ductor Giuseppe Sinopoli, whose skill at the Musikhochschule at moulding the sound of his orchestra Hamburg and with Ana Chumachenco the young Payare greatly admired. at the Kronberg Academy, and from In 2004, Payare began taking formal 2003 to 2009 she held a scholarship in conducting lessons with El Sistema’s the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation. founder, José Antonio Abreu. His expe- Renowned for her original interpre- rience as principal horn in the Simón tations and down-to-earth approach, Bolivar Youth Orchestra was also of Vilde Frang has been the soloist with

4 the Berlin and Munich Philharmonics, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony and many other or- chestras and played chamber music with artists including Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, Martha Argerich, Truls Mørk and . She has been heard at the Salzburg, Proms, Verbier and Lucerne festivals and giv- en solo recitals at Carnegie Hall, New York, the Wigmore Hall in London, the Vienna Musikverein and the Berlin Philharmonie, to mention just a few. Vilde Frang has been the winner of a coveted Gramophone Award for her re- cording of the Britten Violin Concerto with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra on tonight’s programme. Her discography also includes the Sibelius and Prokofiev Violin Concertos, and Violin Sonatas by Bartók, Grieg and Richard Strauss. Her recordings have received numerous awards, includ- ing a Classical BRIT, Edison Klassiek, Deutsche Schallplattenpreis and . Vilde Frang performs on a Jean- Baptiste Vuillaume violin from 1864.

5 The FRSO has recorded works THE FINNISH by Mahler, Ligeti, Sibelius, Hakola, RADIO SYMPHONY Lindberg, Saariaho, Sallinen, Kaipainen, ORCHESTRA Kokkonen and others, and the debut disc of the opera Aslak Hetta by Armas Launis. Its discs have reaped some pres- The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra tigious distinctions, such as the BBC (FRSO) is the orchestra of the Finnish Music Magazine Award, the Académie Broadcasting Company (Yle). Its mis- Charles Cros Award and a MIDEM sion is to produce and promote Classical Award. Its disc of Sibelius’s Finnish musical culture and its Chief Lemminkäinen and Pohjola’s Daughter Conductor as of autumn 2013 has been was Gramophone magazine’s Critic’s Hannu Lintu. His predecessors as Chief Choice in December 2015 and brought Conductor were Toivo Haapanen, Nils- the FRSO and Hannu Lintu a Finnish Eric Fougstedt, Paavo Berglund, Okko Emma award in the Classical Album Kamu, Leif Segerstam, Jukka-Pekka category. Music by Sibelius, Prokofiev, Saraste and Sakari Oramo. Lindberg, Bartók and others will be re- The FRSO celebrates its 90th anni- corded during the 2017/2018 season. versary in the 2017/2018 season, for the The FRSO regularly tours to all parts of Radio Orchestra of ten players made the world. During the 2017/2018 season its first appearance on September 1, its schedule will include a European tour 1927, at the Aleksanterinkatu 46 studio under Hannu Lintu. The home channel in Helsinki. It began giving public con- of the FRSO is Yle Radio 1, which broad- certs a few years later and grew to sym- casts all the FRSO concerts, usually live, phony orchestra strength in the 1960s, both in Finland and abroad. Its concerts during Paavo Berglund’s term as Chief can also be heard and watched with ex- Conductor. cellent live stream quality in the web In addition to the great Classical- (yle.fi/areena). Romantic masterpieces, the latest con- temporary music is a major item in the repertoire of the FRSO, which each year premieres a number of Yle com- missions. Another of the orchestra’s tasks is to record all Finnish orchestral music for the Yle archive. During the 2017/2018 season, the FRSO will pre- miere six Finnish works commissioned by Yle. The programme will also include concert performances of three operas, the FRSO’s first festival of its own and major 20th-century violin concertos.

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