28 JANUARY THURSDAY SERIES 5 Helsinki Music Centre at 19.00

Manfred Honeck, conductor Nelson Freire, piano

Richard Strauss - Manfred Honeck - Tomas Ille: 31 min Elektra, a Symphonic Rhapsody

INTERVAL 20 min

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto no. 5 36 min in E flat major op. 73, “The Emperor”

I Allegro II Adagio un poco moto (here: Andante un poco mosso) III Rondo (Allegro)

Richard Strauss: Rosenkavalier Suite 22 min

Interval at about 19.40. The concert ends at about 21.15.

1 RICHARD STRAUSS plumbing the depths of the subcon- scious and nightmarish visions. To the (1864–1949) / horror of all opera-house managers, MANFRED HONECK / Strauss specified a giant orchestra of TOMAS ILLE: ELEKTRA, over a hundred players. He used it to A SYMPHONIC conjure forth not only earth-shaking outbursts but also more refined effects RHAPSODY impressive in their nuanced shades and psychological insight. Elektra is the daughter of Agamemnon, The Elektra Symphonic Rhapsody ar- King of Mycenae, and Clytemnestra. ranged by Manfred Honeck dates from Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus 2014. The re-orchestration is by the have had Agamemnon assassinated, composer Tomas Ille and was neces- and Elektra, who was unusually deep- sary because Honeck uses a smaller ly attached to her father, is driven by orchestra than Strauss’s original one. a thirst for revenge. Her wish is ul- Even so, it is not exactly small. The timately fulfilled when her brother Honeck version lasts about half an Orestes returns home after an absence hour – just under a third of the original of many years and kills Clytemnestra length. The result may be regarded as and Aegisthus. Elektra bursts out in a sort of symphonic poem résumé of an ecstatic dance and falls dead to the the opera and its psychological devel- ground. opment. Richard Strauss had already stretched his Late-Romantic idiom almost to Kimmo Korhonen the extremes in his opera Salome. In Elektra, he took it even one step fur- ther, to what could be called a brand of pre-Expressionism intensified by bra- LUDWIG VAN zen dissonance and soul-wrenching bi- BEETHOVEN tonality. (An example of the latter is the “Elektra chord”: superimposed E-major (1770-1827): PIANO and C-sharp major or B-minor and CONCERTO NO. 5, F-minor chords.) Compared with the “THE EMPEROR” richly-coloured sensuality of Salome, Elektra is clad in more restrained hues as befits the world of Greek tragedy. As a young man, The structure of Elektra is also more was one of the most famous keyboard compact than that of Salome. virtuosos of his day. Yet he wrote only Strauss was the great master of Late- five piano concertos, probably because Romantic orchestration. No wonder, his public career was cut short by his therefore, that the orchestral score of loss of hearing. His early concertos Elektra is unusually rich, compellingly in this still relatively new genre clear-

2 ly rely on the model set by composers Viennese audience. Yet in the eyes of of the late 18th century and by Mozart posterity “The Emperor” has found the in particular. But as with other genres, place it deserves among the world’s Beethoven was not content merely to sovereign concertos. The most virtuos- ape his predecessors and instead ex- ic of all the Beethoven concertos, it is panded the concerto’s proportions and still a challenge to any pianist. expressive potential, thus blazing a trail for decades to come. Lotta Emanuelsson The fifth concerto, in E flat major op. 73 (1809), is known in many countries as The Emperor. But as is so often the case, this name was not invented by the RICHARD STRAUSS: composer himself. Nor does it refer to (1864–1949) Beethoven’s patronage, but to its ma- jestic character, its imposing, brilliant ROSENKAVALIER SUITE piano texture and the military bear- ing of the main theme of its opening The premiere of Der Rosenkavalier in movement. The Adagio un poco moto is Dresden in January 1911 was one of in turn in a key, B major, far removed the biggest triumphs in operatic his- from the concerto’s home key of E flat tory. The audience gave it a standing major. The most magical moment in ovation, and the critics were ecstatic. the whole concerto is that between the The few who were disappointed that second and third movements when the Strauss had abandoned the bolder boisterous finale theme is first intro- style of Salome and Elektra in favour duced as a soft and distant echo. of a more traditional idiom were vast- The concerto is dedicated to a pu- ly outnumbered. Within a few years pil, friend and generous patron of Der Rosenkavalier had spread all over Beethoven, Archduke Rudolph. It the musical world, to La Scala, Berlin, was for him that Beethoven wrote , and New York, and it the cadenzas to his first four concer- has continued to be the most popular tos; the fifth has no separate solo ca- opera by Strauss. denza proper. Instead of Beethoven Various suites of music from the op- himself, who was by this time almost era have been performed at concerts, stone deaf, the soloist at the premiere but only one of them, the first, was in Leipzig in 1811 was one Friedrich made by Richard Strauss himself (in Schneider; the following year the con- 1944). He nevertheless gave his approv- certo was performed in Vienna by one al for the suite generally thought to of the most eminent virtuosos of his have been compiled by the Polish con- day, Carl Czerny. Somewhat surprising- ductor Artur Rodziński and to be heard ly, this dynamic work did not, despite at this concert. He conducted the pre- what must have been a brilliant perfor- miere of the suite in New York in 1944 mance, cause much of a stir among its and it was published the following year.

3 The Rosenkavalier Suite compris- Conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic es music from a few key scenes in and the Czech Philharmonic. In 2008 the opera and is performed without a he took over as Music Director of the break. It begins, like the opera, with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Marschallin and Octavian’s love scene. As a guest conductor Manfred Once the initial frenzy has died down, Honeck has worked with the world’s it introduces the famous silver rose – leading orchestras, such as the Leipzig glittering on high on flutes, harp, ce- Gewandhaus Orchestra, Staatskapelle lesta and three violins. When Baron Dresden, Royal Concertgebouw Orc­ Ochs enters the scene, the music be- hestra, the Vienna, Los Angeles and gins to sway to a lively Viennese waltz. New York Philharmonics, the Chicago The suite climaxes with a trio sung by and Boston Orchestras. In 2013 he the Marschallin, Octavian and Sophie gave his successful debut with the and the young lovers’ duet, but unlike Berlin Philharmonic, resulting in a CD the opera, it ends with a rollicking new of works by Dvořák with Anne-Sophie waltz episode. Mutter for Deutsche Grammophon. The present season includes appear- Kimmo Korhonen ances in Stuttgart, New York, London Programme notes translated (abridged) and Amsterdam. by Susan Sinisalo Among the recordings by Manfred Honeck with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra are Strauss tone poems, and symphonies by Dvořák, Beethoven MANFRED HONECK and Bruckner. The CD of Mahler’s fourth symphony won an International Classical Music Award in 2012. Manfred Honeck began his career as a viola player and spent more than ten years with the Vienna Philharmonic and State Opera Orchestra in his na- tive Austria. It was also in Vienna that NELSON FREIRE he took up conducting, as assistant to Claudio Abbado. He was also engaged by the Zurich Opera House, where he Born in Boa Esperança, a small town received the prestigious European in the Brazilian interior, Nelson Freire Conductor’s Award in 1993. From 2007 made his first public appearance at to 2011 he was Music Director of the the age of five. His family, impressed State Opera in Stuttgart, in addition to by his talent, moved to Rio de Janeiro, which he has served as Music Director where he continued his studies under of the Norwegian National Opera the guidance of two superlative teach- and the Swedish Radio Symphony ers, Nise Obino and Lucia Branco. By Orchestra and as Principal Guest the age of 14 he was a master pianist.

4 After winning the Rio de Janeiro THE FINNISH International Piano Competition when he was 12, Nelson Freire was presented RADIO SYMPHONY with a grant that allowed him to study ORCHESTRA in Vienna. His London début, when he was 23, caused the press to hail him as The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra “the young lion of the keyboard” and (FRSO) is the orchestra of the Finnish “one of the most exciting pianists of Broadcasting Company (Yle). Its mission this or any age”. Since then, he has is to produce and promote Finnish musi- toured the world as the soloist with the cal culture and its Chief Conductor as of finest orchestras, collaborating with autumn 2013 has been Hannu Lintu. The such illustrious conductors as Valery FRSO has two Honorary Conductors: Gergiev, , Kurt Masur, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Sakari Oramo. David Zinman and Seiji Ozawa. The Radio Orchestra of ten players Nelson Freire has an exclusive record- founded in 1927 grew to symphony or- ing contract with Decca, and discs by chestra strength in the 1960s. Hannu him have won Diapason d’Or, Grand Lintu was preceded as Chief Conductor Prix du Disque, Victoire d’Honneur, by Toivo Haapanen, Nils-Eric Fougstedt, Edison, Gramophone and Grammy Paavo Berglund, Okko Kamu, Leif Latino awards. Among his numerous Segerstam, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and distinctions have been awards from Rio Sakari Oramo. de Janeiro, Paris, Buenos Aires and oth- In addition to the great Classical- er cities, and the titles of Chevalier de Romantic masterpieces, the latest con- la Légion d’Honneur and Commandeur temporary music is a major item in the des Arts et des Lettres. He is regularly repertoire of the FRSO, which each year invited to serve on the jury of such ma- premieres a number of Yle commissions. jor piano competitions as the Chopin, Another of the orchestra’s tasks is to re- Tchaikovsky and Van Cliburn. cord all Finnish orchestral music for the Fluent in several languages, Nelson Yle archive. During the 2015/2016 sea- Freire has made his home in Rio de son it will premiere six Finnish works Janeiro, to which he returns regularly commissioned by Yle. The programme between tours. will also include Piano Concertos by Beethoven and Prokofiev, Symphonies by Schumann and Brahms, and Mendelssohn’s oratorio Elijah. Among its guest artists will be pianists Murray Perahia, Nelson Freire and András Schiff, conductors David Zinman, Tugan Sokhiev and Manfred Honeck, soprano Karita Mattila and mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter.

5 The FRSO has recorded works by Ligeti, Eötvös, Nielsen, Hakola, Lindberg, Saariaho, Sallinen, Kaipainen, Kokkonen and others, and the debut disc of the op- era Aslak Hetta by Armas Launis. Its discs have reaped some prestigious distinc- tions, such as the BBC Music Magazine Award, the Académie Charles Cros Award and a MIDEM Classical Award. The disc of the Sibelius and Lindberg Violin Concertos was Gramophone mag- azine’s Editor’s Choice in February 2014. The FRSO regularly tours to all parts of the world. One of the many high- lights of the 2015/2016 season will be tours to Japan and Austria with conduc- tor Hannu Lintu. The home channel of the FRSO is Yle Radio 1, which broadcasts all its con- certs, usually live, both in Finland and abroad. Its concerts can also be heard and watched with excellent live stream quality on the FRSO website (www.yle.fi/ rso), and the majority of them are tele- vised live on the Yle Teema channel.

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