30 JANUARY FRIDAY SERIES 7 Helsinki Music Centre at 19

Sakari Oramo, conductor Patricia Kopatchinskaja, violin

Maurice Ravel: Le tombeau de Couperin 16 min I Preludi II Forlane III Menuetti IV Rigaudon

Béla Bartók: Violin Concerto No. 2, Sz. 112 35 min I Allegro non troppo II Andante tranquillo III Allegro molto

INTERVAL 20 min

Jean Sibelius: The Dryad, Op. 45 No. 1 6 min

Richard Strauss: Tod und Verklärung, Op. 24 23 min I Largo. (Happy Memories of Childhood) II Allegro molto agitato (Life and Death Battle) III Meno mosso, ma sempre alla breve (Dreams of the Dying; Death) IV Moderato (Transfiguration)

1 THE LATE-NIGHT CHAMBER-MUSIC CONCERT will follow in the Concert Hall after an interval of about 10 minutes. Those attending are asked to take (unnumbered) seats in the stalls.

LATE NIGHT CHAMBER MUSIC

Emmi Tikkala, flute Riitta-Liisa Ristiluoma, viola Laura Hynninen, harp

Carlos Salzedo: 9 min Variations sur un thème dans le style ancient

Claude Debussy: Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp 20 min I Pastoral II Interlude III Finale

Interval at about 20. The concert ends at about 21.05. The late-night chamber music ends at about 21.55. Broadcast live on Yle Radio 1 and streamed at yle.fi/rso.

2 MAURICE RAVEL title, the dedication applied to the whole era. The French word tombeau (1875–1937): literally means a tomb or grave, but in LE TOMBEAU DE the arts, and especially music, it has ac- COUPERIN quired a secondary meaning: a tribute. Ravel first composed a set of six piano pieces each based on one of the Ravel took a long time to compose Le character dances of the pre-Classical tombeau de Couperin. He did, however, suite or some other Baroque model. In have a good excuse, for he began it just 1919 he orchestrated four of the move- as the First World War had broken out ments (omitting the graphic Fugue and and was not able to finish it until 1917 – the virtuosic Toccata) and slightly al- and the orchestration not for another tered the order of the movements. The two years. result was a suite in four movements Both Ravel and some members of his for chamber orchestra that serves as close circle put the delay down to ‘writ- an even better memorial to the victims er’s block’. This is usually attributed to of the war than the original version for some inner crisis, but the fault lay to a piano. As his starting point he did a very great extent in his external circum- transcription of the Forlane, a dance in stances at the time and works born of the Italian style from Couperin’s fourth the patriotic fervour occasioned by the keyboard suite. He then used this as a war. Although, as a truck driver, he did model for his piece of the same name. not really serve at the front, he did ex- His idiom is, however, very modern, the perience a number of near hits. The chromatic melodies and harmonies gruesome reality stifled his desire to bordering on the atonal. He placed the compose, and he drifted into a state Forlane second in the suite. The oth- that would nowadays be diagnosed as er movements – Prélude, Menuet and serious depression. Rigaudon – each in its own way reflects Le tombeau de Couperin ties in with Baroque ideals from a modern angle. the war in many ways. One is the dedication alone: Ravel dedicated each movement to the memory of a friend BÉLA BARTÓK killed in action. Like most others when (1881–1945): VIOLIN war broke out in 1914, Ravel thought it would soon be over, and he could not CONCERTO NO. 2 have imagined the victims and suffer- ing that lay in store. His initial idea was Bartók simply called it a Violin Concerto. to compose a suite for piano as a trib- In the 1950s, after his death, an earlier, ute to early 18th-century French key- rejected attempt by him at this genre board music. He insisted that although was published as Violin Concerto No. the name of “Le Grand” François 1 (1907–1908) and the later work was Couperin (1668–1733) featured in the therefore numbered 2. It was commis-

3 sioned in 1936 by the Hungarian violin ing new character. It is a movement in virtuoso Zoltán Székely and dates from which Bartók more than demonstrates 1937–1938. In other words, ten years his command of virtuoso violin tex- separated it from his earlier attempt. tures. Few works have such a fine begin- ning! The serene harp chords and mo- dally-anchored pizzicatos on the low JEAN SIBELIUS strings provide a backdrop for the main (1865–1957): theme that is both beautifully bal- anced and full of potential for further THE DRYAD development. Bartók allows his theme to stray further and further afield while Sibelius composed The Dryad while gradually gaining momentum. Writers struggling with his fourth symphony. In about music often admire “organic his diary he listed no fewer than 18 un- growth”, and if any theme grows or- finished works at the time. This, reck- ganically, then this one certainly does. oned his biographer Erik Tawaststjerna, The main theme is followed by a indicated that he was preoccupied by bridge passage characterised by stub- the problems posed by his symphony born quintuplets that leads to a deli- and ways of solving them. Hoping to cate second theme. This is composed hold a concert of his works in April 1910, of all 12 notes in the chromatic scale, he dashed off The Dryad at top speed with the result that it caused quite an and had plans for writing something outcry at the time. Some reckoned else as well to fill out the programme. that Bartók had, contrary to his previ- He soon came to his senses, however, ous critical statements, decided to fol- cancelled the concert and set to work low the dodecaphonic (12-tone) path on the symphony in earnest. The Dryad of Schönberg, while others interpreted was premiered in October of that year the gesture as a parody. at a concert in Christiania (nowadays The slow movement consists of a Oslo) he agreed to attend even though theme and six variations. The seem- his symphony was not finished. It was ingly gossamer theme gradually re- in time completed, but only one day (!) veals more substantial features. From before the premiere in April the follow- the double stops of the third variation ing year. onwards, the music becomes more vig- The combination ‘Sibelius’ and ‘for- orous. When the original mood and fi- est’ automatically calls to mind his last nally the theme itself return in the last tone poem Tapiola, but The Dryad also variation, the overall ABA scheme be- has forest connections, for in Greek comes evident. The repeat of A is, how- mythology, a dryad was a wood nymph. ever, only a brief flashback to the first. In sound, dramatic structure and es- In the finale, the march rhythm of the sence the two works do not, howev- first movement is dressed in triple me- er, resemble one another in the least. tre, thus giving the themes an amus- Whereas Tapiola evokes pantheistic im-

4 ages of the harsh, vast, frozen pine and small bare room, dimly lit by a can- fir forests of the north, The Dryad, with dle stump, a sick man lies on his bed. its Hellenic associations, inhabits the Exhausted by a violent struggle with woods of Southern Europe, their leaves death, he lies asleep. In the stillness of rustled by warm summer breezes. The the room, like a portent of impending portrait of such a lightly-tripping myth- death, only the quiet ticking of a clock ical figure as a nymph is by nature im- is heard. A melancholy smile lights the pressionistic and not far removed from invalid’s pale face: does he dream of the landscape of the languorous faun, golden childhood as he lingers on the Syrinx, Daphne and Chloe. Sibelius border of life?” himself had captured a similar atmos- The next is a feverish Allegro: “But phere in Aallottaret, which may be re- death grants him little sleep or time garded as a sister work to The Dryad, for dreams. He shakes his prey brutally and the Naiads in his incidental music to begin the battle afresh. The drive to to The Tempest. The Dryad links togeth- live, the might of death! What a terri- er a free-roaming introduction and a fying contest! Neither wins the victory flowing waltz. It has just a suggestion and once more silence reigns.” of the symphony’s chromatics but is The third section, a loose develop- basically easy-going and painted in re- ment of sonata form, swings from one fined, muted shades. mood to another: “Exhausted from the battle, sleepless, as in a delirium, the sick man now sees his life pass be- RICHARD STRAUSS fore him, step by step, scene by scene. (1864–1949): TOD UND First the rosy dawn of childhood, radi- ant, innocent then the boy’s aggressive VERKLÄRUNG games, testing, building his strength – and so maturing for the battles of Richard Strauss composed Tod und manhood, to strive with burning pas- Verklärung (Death and Transfiguration) sion for the highest goals of life: to in 1889. He was 25 at the time and its transfigure all that seems to him most topic was not one he would personally noble, giving it still more exalted form face for a long time to come. The music – this alone has been the high aim of gives the impression that he was look- his whole existence. Coldly, scornful- ing at (or hearing) his subject through ly, the world set obstacle upon obsta- a strong Wagnerian filter. He knew the cle in his way. When he believed him- Wagner operas inside out and found in self near his goal, a thunderous voice them many models. cried: ‘Halt!’ But a voice within him The tone poem is in four sections still urged him on, crying: ‘Make each and proceeds according to a pro- hindrance a new rung in your upward gramme he sketched before he set to climb.’ Undaunted, he followed the ex- work and which he strictly followed. alted quest. Still in his death agony he The first section sets the scene: “In a seeks the unreached goal of his cease-

5 less striving, seeks it, but alas, still in of the City of Birmingham Symphony vain. Though it grows closer, clearer, Orchestra. grander, it never can be grasped en- Among the many orchestras guest tirely or perfected in his soul. The final conducted by Sakari Oramo have iron hammer blow of death rings out, been the Berlin, Vienna and New York breaks his earthly frame, and covers his Philharmonics, the Boston, Chicago eyes with eternal night.” and San Francisco Symphonies, The transfiguration comes in section the Orchestra of the Amsterdam four: “But from the endless realms of Concertgebouw and the Dresden heavenly space a mighty resonance re- Staatskapelle. Engagements this sea- turns to him bearing what he longed son include appearances with the for here below and sought in vain: re- BBC Symphony on tour in Spain, the demption, transfiguration.” In his very New York Philharmonic and the Berlin last song, Strauss borrowed this music Symphony Orchestra. In August 2014 just before and after the final line “Ist he conducted the famous Last Night dies etwa der Tod?” (Could this then of the Proms in London. be death?). And the story goes that he Sakari Oramo’s recent record re- told his daughter-in-law on his death- leases include Nørgård’s Symphonies bed, “It’s a funny thing, Alice. Dying 1 & 8 with the Vienna Philharmonic is just as I composed it in Tod und and a disc of Nielsen, Bruckner and Verklärung.” Elgar symphonies with the Stockholm Philharmonic. His recordings with the Jouni Kaipainen (abridged) FRSO include works by Bartók, Hakola, Translated (apart from the Strauss Saariaho, Kaipainen and Kokkonen quotations) by Susan Sinisalo and the premiere recording of the opera Aslak Hetta by Launis. His recording with the FRSO and Lisa Batiashvili of the Lindberg and Sibelius Violin SAKARI ORAMO Concertos (Sony BMG) won the MIDEM Classical Award in 2008. Sakari Oramo is Chief Conductor of Sakari Oramo was awarded an the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Honorary Doctorate by the University Orchestra and of the BBC Symphony of Birmingham in 2004, the prestigious Orchestra. He is also Principal Elgar medal in 2008 and an OBO for Conductor of the West Coast Kokkola his services to British music in 2009. Opera and Artistic Director of the The Finnish President awarded him the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra. Pro Finlandia medal in December 2010, After a decade as Chief Conductor of and he was made a member of the the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra Swedish Royal Music Academy in 2012. (2003–2012), he became the orchestra’s Honorary Conductor. Between 1998 and 2008 he was Music Director

6 PATRICIA Patricia Kopatchinskaja plays a violin made by Giovanni Francesco Pressenda KOPATCHINSKAJA in 1834.

Patricia Kopatchinskaja is equally at home in music of the Baroque as she is in the very latest repertoire. During the present season she makes her de- THE FINNISH but with the Berlin Philharmonic, play- RADIO SYMPHONY ing Peter Eötvös’s DoReMi. She also ORCHESTRA appears with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Stuttgart Radio Symphony The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra Orchestra and the Philharmonia from (FRSO) is the orchestra of the Finnish London, and tours Switzerland with the Broadcasting Company (Yle). Its mis- Stockholm Philharmonic and Sakari sion is to produce and promote Finnish Oramo. She was recently named an musical culture and its Chief Conductor Artistic Partner of the St. Paul Chamber as of autumn 2013 is Hannu Lintu. The Orchestra, and her first performance in FRSO has two Honorary Conductors: this role combined traditional folk mu- Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Sakari Oramo. sic with classical works. The Radio Orchestra of ten players An active chamber musician, Patricia founded in 1927 grew to symphony or- Kopatchinskaja regularly collaborates chestra strength in the 1960s. Hannu with such artists as Sol Gabetta, Markus Lintu was preceded as Chief Conductor Hinterhäuser and Polina Leschenko, by Toivo Haapanen, Nils-Eric Fougstedt, and members of her own family. She Paavo Berglund, Okko Kamu, Leif is also a founding member of the ex- Segerstam, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and perimental quartet-lab, a string quar- most recently Sakari Oramo. tet with Pekka Kuusisto, Lilli Maijala In addition to the great Classical- and Pieter Wispelwey. In autumn 2014 Romantic masterpieces, the latest con- the quartet undertook a major tour temporary music is a major item in the including performances at Vienna’s repertoire of the FRSO, which each Konzerthaus, London’s Wigmore Hall year premieres a number of Yle com- and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw. missions. Another of the orchestra’s Patricia Kopatchinskaja records ex- tasks is to record all Finnish orches- clusively for Naïve Classique. Among tral music for the Yle archive. During her recent releases for the label the 2014/2015 season it will premiere are violin concertos by Prokofiev four Finnish works commissioned by and Stravinsky with the London Yle. The programme will also include Philharmonic and concertos by Bartók, colourful orchestral poems by Richard Ligeti and Peter Eötvös with the Strauss, symphonies by Shostakovich Hessen Radio Symphony Orchestra and Haydn’s great The Creation. The and the Ensemble Modern.

7 orchestra’s distinguished guests will include conductors Leonard Slatkin, Kent Nagano, Herbert Blomstedt and Esa- Pekka Salonen, soprano Karita Mattila, violist Tabea Zimmermann and pianist Olli Mustonen. The FRSO has recorded works by Ligeti, Eötvös, Nielsen, Hakola, Lindberg, Saariaho, Sallinen, Kaipainen, Kokkonen and others, and the debut disc of the opera Aslak Hetta by Armas Launis. Its discs have reaped some prestigious distinctions, such as the BBC Music Magazine Award and the Académie Charles Cros Award. The disc of the Sibelius and Lindberg violin concertos was Gramophone magazine’s Editor’s Choice in February 2014. The FRSO regularly tours to all parts of the world. One of the many highlights of the 2013/2014 season was a critically- acclaimed concert conducted by Hannu Lintu at the Vienna Musikverein during a tour of Central Europe. During the 2014/2015 season the orchestra, under the baton of Hannu Lintu, will appear in Stockholm and tour Finland. It will also visit the EBU Festival in Bucharest with Joshua Weilerstein as its conductor. The home channel of the FRSO is Yle Radio 1, which broadcasts all its concerts, usually live, both in Finland and abroad. Its concerts can also be heard and watched with excellent live stream quality on the FRSO website (yle.fi/rso), and the majority of them are televised live on the Yle Teema channel.