13.1. Helsinki Music Centre at 15:00

Olli Mustonen,

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 1 in F Minor Op. 2 No. 1 20 min I Allegro II Adagio III Menuetto IV Prestissimo

Piano Sonata No. 2 in A Major Op. 2 No. 2 22 min I Allegro vivace II Largo appassionato III Scherzo (Allegretto) – Trio IV Rondo (Grazioso)

INTERVAL 20 min

Piano Sonata No. 22 in F Major Op. 54 11 min I In tempo d’un menuetto II Allegretto (– più allegro)

Piano Sonata No. 23 in F Minor Op. 57 “Appassionata” 25 min I Allegro assai – Adagio – Più allegro II Andante con moto III Allegro ma non troppo – Presto

Interval at about 15:45. The concert will end at about 16:55. A recorded version of the concert will be broadcast on Yle Radio 1 at 19:03 on 21.1.

1 LUDWIG VAN itability. The slow movement is a fine demonstration of Beethoven’s gift for BEETHOVEN making the piano sing, and the Minuet, (1770–1827): PIANO with its Trio in F major, looks ahead to SONATAS OP. 2 NO. 1 his future Scherzos. In the finale, the & 2; OP. 54 NO. 22 IN passionate emotions, stormy bravura and sense of fate likewise pave the way F MAJOR; AND OP. 57 for the great compositions of his mid- NO. 23 IN F MINOR, dle period. “APPASSIONATA” The Op. 2 No. 2 Sonata in A Major be- gins in cheerful, carefree mood but its breadth is only truly revealed with the Arriving in Vienna in 1792, a year af- second theme in E minor. Beethoven ter the death of Mozart, Ludwig van revels in quasi-improvised details and a Beethoven took the city by storm. His surprise tactic dressed in sonata form. weapon was one with which his pre- In the slow movement, Beethoven decessor had tried in vain to capture sets out to demonstrate his command Viennese hearts: the piano and perfor- of sublime, simple invention but packs mance thereon. Beethoven had begun it with sentiment by means of a res- composing Piano Sonatas while still in olute bass “pizzicato”. The warbling Bonn, but did not publish his first ones motif with which the Scherzo begins until 1796, in Vienna. In the three Op. 2 is reminiscent of the main theme of Sonatas, he established models of his the first movement and characteristi- own based on those created by Mozart cally proceeds from innocent to defi- and especially Haydn. ant. The closing movement also begins A headstrong, intrepid Rhinelander, with a grazioso smile, and the contrast Beethoven made no effort to seduce with the tempestuous middle episode the nobility. Instead, he set out to daz- is marked, but it casts care aside at the zle them with his brilliance and individ- end with admirable nonchalance. uality. His studies with Haydn fizzled The Piano Sonata Op. 54 No. 22 in out, probably for these same reasons, F Major of 1804 has been somewhat and he later claimed he had learnt overshadowed by its great neighbours, nothing from his teacher. He does the Waldstein and Appassionata. One of nonetheless pay homage of sorts to Beethoven’s most compact and mul- the older master in the stern opening ti-layered works, it again hints at many gesture of the Sonata Op. 2 No. 1 in of the solutions that would feature in F Minor and the nervous entry of the his late masterpieces. main theme. The opening movement is marked The contrasting subsidiary themes in “In Tempo d’un Menuetto”, and the the first movement speak of the influ- first theme does indeed seem to dance ence of Haydn, and the compact sona- daintily in Classical vein. The second ta form gives the music an air of inev- theme, by contrast, pounds along in

2 Romulan octaves and sixths that seem tuous outbursts would greatly colour to have little respect for earlier conven- the romantic image of Beethoven. The tion. The development section has the seemingly unbridled struggle keeps unpredictability of improvisation, and faithfully to sonata form, but the devel- some degree of entente is sought be- opment spreads far and wide beyond tween the opposing motifs in the final the accustomed bounds. The overall sprint. form nevertheless loses none of its in- The second movement flows in a ner character and dramatic impact. steady, toccata-like stream. Its only The slow movement is a set of vari- theme transforms and glitters in a ations of almost otherworldly serenity deluge of semiquavers that gather and simplicity. Each of the three var- strength and emotional tension as they iations on the theme rises an octave go. The modulations travel far from the and doubles the note values before go- music’s original source and the imita- ing back to the beginning. As in the tion trumpet fanfares that pop up now Waldstein Sonata, the third movement and then evoke images of a military follows the second without a break, but campaign. The ultimate più allegro fi- this time the joint is packed with ten- nalises the victory. sion created by a well-worn device: an Beethoven’s “middle period”, as it is anguished diminished seventh chord known, at the beginning of the 19th that then unleashes the final torrent. century was marked by an astounding The cascading third movement does search for new solutions in every as- not have the feel of rebellion of the pect of music. Beethoven did not seek first and now appears to be at the mer- just a single path to the unknown ter- cy of higher powers. The attempts at ritory that lay ahead; instead, he tried contrast always seem to be quashed by and adopted various complementary the main theme. At the end, the drama options. condenses into a robustly stoic dance. This complementary aspect is clear- Beethoven nevertheless always looks ly marked in the Piano Sonatas of like being the ultimate winner, until the the middle period. The two finest ex- wild coda tosses the music into the fi- amples are the Waldstein, Op. 53, and nal abyss. the F Minor, Op. 57 of 1804 named the Appassionata so by its Hamburg pub- Programme notes by Antti Häyrynen lisher in the 1830s. This, too, is high- translated (abridged) by Susan Sinisalo ly virtuosic, but the structure is finely sculpted and – as its name suggests – impassioned. The disconsolate opening and mot- to-like rhythmic motif are evocative of the Fate Symphony (No. 5 in C Minor) composed at around the same time. The first movement with its tempes-

3 OLLI MUSTONEN in 1991, Olli Mustonen has conducted both in his native and many of the finest worldwide. The Olli Mustonen has created a distinc- Helsinki Festival founded by tive profile as an artist who has made him gave its first concert in 2001 and his mark in three capacities – as pia- has toured with him in nist, conductor and – in a Central Europe, Japan and China. way that is seldom matched. He got Mustonen’s compositions consist launched on his international career in mainly of chamber and orchestral mu- the mid-1980s and has since appeared sic, including two Symphonies (2011 & in all three roles on the world’s most 2013), a Triple Concerto for three vio- prestigious platforms, often conduct- lins (1998) and a Sonata for and ing from the piano stool. orchestra (2013). Among his chamber Mustonen studied the piano with Ralf works are two Nonets (1995 & 2000), a Gothóni and Eero Heinonen and won Sonata for and piano (2006), and second prize in the Eurovision Young a Quartet for , violin, viola and pi- Musicians 1984. He made his London ano (2011). debut two years later, and has since been the soloist with many top orches- tras, such as the Berlin, New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, the Chicago Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, all the great London orchestras and the orchestra of the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theatre. Mustonen’s extensive discogra- phy (on the Philips, Decca, RCA, BIS, , Alba and other labels), in- cludes one of Preludes by Shostakovich and Alkan (1991) that won both Edison and Gramophone awards. As a solo , Mustonen has also record- ed works by Mussorgsky, Beethoven, Bach, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Sibelius, Prokofiev and others. He conducted-recorded the complete Beethoven Piano Concertos with the Tapiola Sinfonietta and has recorded the Prokofiev Piano Concertos with the FRSO under Hannu Lintu. Since making his conducting debut

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