• Abstract and Figures
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27.9. at 19:00 Helsinki Music Centre Hannu lintu conductor Yevgeny Sudbin piano Ilkka Hammo: On the Horizon, fp (Yle commission) 10 min Edvard Grieg: Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16 30 min Allegro molto moderato Adagio 1 Allegro moderato molto e marcato – Quasi presto – Andante maestoso INTERVAL 20 min Carl Nielsen: Symphony No. 5, Op. 50 34 min Tempo giusto Adagio non troppo Allegro – Presto – Andante un poco tranquillo – Allegro Interval at about 19:55. The concert will end at about 21:00. Broadcast live on Yle Radio 1 and Yle Areena. BEFORE THE CONCERT, AT 18:00 IN THE LOWER FOYER, CHIEF CONDUCTOR HANNU LINTU WILL TALK (IN FINNISH) ABOUT THE 2019/2020 SEASON. PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOUR MOBILE PHONE IS SWITCHED OFF! Photographing, video and sound recording are prohibited during the concert. Ilkka Hammo: The travelling element could be described as a four-note motif that is On the Horizon processed in different environments. “I like having lots of things going on “I want to tell a story by composing. In while still being part of the same entity, the music, it may take the form of a di- the same story affording different rection in that it seeks variations of in- landscapes.” tensity and climaxes, textures that thick- en and level off.” Thus Finnish composer Ilkka Hammo Edvard Grieg: (b. 1983) describes the way he works. On the Horizon, his first big commission, is Piano Concerto in a dramatic journey for large orchestra A Minor, Op. 16 past seething landscapes towards peace. The work is the outcome of a Sibelius Academy orchestra workshop Norwegian meets European in perfect for composition students held some five harmony in the piano concerto by Edvard years ago by the FRSO and Hannu Lintu. Grieg (1843–1907). The Norwegian Hammo welcomed the chance to test ambiance brings a breath of fresh air to 2 how things sound in an orchestra. Shortly the Romantic three-movement concerto afterwards, he was asked whether he format of composers such as Robert might like to compose a whole work for Schumann on which Grieg modelled his the FRSO. While On the Horizon does concerto. have some things in common with the The bold, no-fuss opening already workshop exercises, it is above all a new links the descending figure typical of work seeking to make the most of the Norwegian folk music with Romantic vir- sound potential of a large orchestra. tuosity. Later, in the finale, the bounc- Through his wife, who plays in the ing main theme inspired by the athletic Tampere Philharmonic, Hammo is Halling – a leaping dance – joins compa- familiar with the everyday life of an ny with a heart-melting, romantic second orchestra. “When 90 virtuoso musicians theme. In the slow movement, shades of play together, they release tremendous Norwegian music place the heaving sen- energy,” he enthuses. He has sought to timents in a kindly natural light. draw on this energy in his new work by, Grieg was himself a celebrated pianist. for example, dividing the sections into The secret of the vast popularity of his separate power centres towards the end. only concerto probably lies in the fresh- On the Horizon is, says Hammo, a ness and directness of its melodies. Each narrative journey. “The dramatic span theme comes into view like a delightful and development are important to me. new or familiar landscape. Present are Despite the narrative approach, there both local and pan-European, the com- is no concrete plot. I wanted the music munity aspect of folk music and the to be catchy, to absorb the listener into private nature of romantic sentiments. concentrating.” Grieg adopts a humane perspective on the typical heroic soloist in a way that latent, in the second active and manifest. speaks to the listener. In both, they nevertheless meet head on. Composing the piano concerto was for The music unfolds delicate landscapes Grieg an almost life-long journey. He first evocative of the Jutland coast. Personal set to work on it at the age of 24, in 1868, and general, man and nature, micro and and it was premiered the following year, macro level are organically interwoven, but he returned to it again and again. The but the approach is philosophically last version was completed only a couple analytical rather than Elysian. of weeks before he died. Forces gradually emerge out of a primeval state. The first force is, however, not a life-giving but a threatening one. An Carl Nielsen: aggressive side drum bullies the orchestra along, and the ghost of the world war Symphony No. 5, only a few years before can still be felt Op. 50 in the background. The destructive force epitomised by the side drum may, in the Carl Nielsen (1865–1931) is not easy to first movement, be conceived of as the categorise as a composer, for he spiced evil caused by man that runs roughshod contemporary and traditional European over nature but is not able to drain it of trends with a pinch of Danishness in a its energy. 3 symphonic style that was both pioneering Half way through the movement, the and straightforward. Cold-headed mod- sun comes out. Nature has the power to ernism, nostalgic romanticism, easy-go- heal. According to one of his pupils, Nielsen ing neoclassicism and genial folk music spoke of a “nature theme” harassed by an all merge in a broad orchestral stream. angry “evil motif”. Once the life-giving When Nielsen began work on his force has stepped out in all its majesty, fifth symphony – nowadays his most conflict with the initial destructiveness is frequently performed – in 1920, he knew inevitable. The angry side drum returns it would be his biggest undertaking to and the symphony creaks at the seams date. It sums up things that had been as the horizontal nature music sails along, occupying his mind for years. Though it trying not to notice the violence all around does not have a title, he once gave it the it. Nature ultimately reigns, triumphant, motto: “dark, resting forces, alert forces”. and the side drum is forced to surrender. He did not, however, want the music to In contrast to the first guarded be branded as programmatic, and being movement, the second begins with a abstract, it strikes to the core of the burst of energy, flexing its muscles. The cosmos and humanity where the basic optimism is, however, aware that evil will forces are pitted against one another. never cease to exist, and before long, the The conflict is built into the symphony’s symphony rushes into battle. A demonic, two-movement structure, chosen dancing fugue steps up the fury and because the conventional format did not things threaten to get out of hand despite serve Nielsen’s idea of opposition. In the an attempt by the strings to pacify them, first movement the forces are passive and but the symphony ends with the positive assertion it made at the beginning: good Yevgeny Sudbin must prevail over evil! Hailed by The Telegraph as “potential- Programme notes by Auli Särkiö- ly one of the greatest pianists of the Pitkänen translated (abridged) by Susan 21st century, Yevgeny Sudbin (b. 1980) began taking piano lessons in his nati- ve Leningrad (nowadays St. Petersburg) when he was only five. He then continued Hannu Lintu at the Hanns Eisler Musikhochschule in Berlin, to which his family had moved Hannu Lintu took over as the eighth Chief when he was ten, and there won many Conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony German competitions. In 1997, he moved Orchestra in August 2013, after years of to London to study at the Purcell School highly-acclaimed collaboration with the and subsequently the Royal Academy of orchestra. During the 2019/2020 season Music, where he completed his Bachelor he will conduct the FRSO in 14 concerts and Master’s degrees under Christopher at the Helsinki Music Centre and take it Elton. He has also been tutored by Murray on tours to Central Europe and Japan. Perahia, Claude Frank, Leon Fleisher, In addition to his post with the FRSO, Stephen Kovacevich, Dmitri Bashkirov, 4 Hannu Lintu will this season be making Fou Ts’ong, Stephen Hough, Alexander guest appearances with the symphony Sazt and Maria Curcio. orchestras in Montreal, Detroit, Chicago, Sudbin has been the soloist with Boston, with the Orchestre de Paris numerous renowned orchestras; in and the Netherlands Radio Symphony recent seasons these have included the Orchestra. Last season included debuts Philharmonia, Rotterdam Philharmonic, with the Boston Symphony and the Montreal Symphony, Minnesota Hungarian National Philharmonic, guest Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, City of appearances with the Baltimore, St. Birmingham Symphony, Royal Liverpool Louis and Cincinnati Symphonies, the Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic and New Japan Philharmonic, the Singapore Australian Chamber Orchestra, and he Symphony and the Elbphilharmonie has collaborated with such conductors as Hamburg. Neeme Järvi, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Tugan Hannu Lintu studied the cello and Sokhiev, Mark Wigglesworth, Vassily piano at the Sibelius Academy in his Sinaisky, Osmo Vänskä, Hannu Lintu and native Finland and later orchestral Dima Slobodeniouk. conducting in the class of Jorma Panula. Also an active recitalist and chamber He attended masterclasses with Myung- musician, Sudbin has performed in Whun Chung at L’Accademia Musicale partnership with violinists Ilya Gringolts, Chigiana in Siena and was the winner of Hilary Hahn, Julia Fischer and Vadim the Nordic Conducting Prize in Bergen in Gluzman, cellists Alexander Chausian, 1994. He has recorded on the Ondine, BIS, Johannes Moser, the Chilingirian Quartet Hyperion and other labels. and many others. Sudbin’s many recordings of his core repertoire have met with critical acclaim.

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