THE JOY OF LOVE Eero Lehtimäki, Olli Leppäniemi, conductor clarinet www.joensuu.fi/kaupunginorkesteri THU 20TH OF FEBRUARY 2020 AT 19, CARELIA HALL THE JOY OF LOVE Eero Lehtimäki, conductor Olli Leppäniemi, clarinet Giuseppe Verdi Edward Elgar Overture from La Traviata Salut d’amour op. 12 Outi Tarkiainen Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Joye Symphony no 40 G minor KV550 Molto allegro Andante Uljas Pulkkis Menuetto Allegro assai Tales of Joy, Passion and Love Tales of Joy Tales of Passion Tales of Love INTERMISSION Duration of the concert is about 2 tuntia ARTISTS soloist and musician with various orchestras and chamber music groups. In addition Eero Lehtimäki | conductor to his acknowledgements as a musician, Lehtimäki has also graduated as a Master of Eero Lehtimäki (s. 1989) teki läpimurtonsa Science (Technology) in acoustics at the Aalto Eero Lehtimäki (b. 1989) made his University. He admires versatile sophistication breakthrough by conducting the Mariinsky and makes music to take people to places they Theatre Orchestra in concert on extremely could not even imagine. short notice at Turku Music Festival in 2016. Since then, he has performed with almost all of the Finnish professional symphony Olli Leppäniemi | clarinet orchestras. He started as the artistic director Olli Leppäniemi is one of the leading and chief conductor of Joensuu City Orchestra clarinetists of our time. His international in 2019, and has been the artistic director soloist career was launched after winning of the Brinkhall Music Festival since 2018. the 1st Prize in the 2009 Carl Nielsen Clarinet In 2020, Lehtimäki will start as the artistic Competition in Denmark. Leppäniemi is director of the Joensuu Winter Music Festival. also considered one of the finest and most established orchestral clarinetists of his Eero started his conducting studies in generation, having held three principal Jorma Panula’s class for young conductors clarinet positions by the age of 29. He is a in 2010 and finished his conducting studies great favourite with the audiences. at the Sibelius Academy in spring 2016. He has also studied orchestral and opera Leppäniemi studied clarinet with Yehuda conducting in Vienna with Johannes Wildner, Gilad in Los Angeles, Hans-Christian Bræin in Simeon Pironkoff and Konrad Leitner. Eero Oslo, and with Reijo Koskinen in the Sibelius- has attended master classes of Jorma Panula Academy. He also gives big importance in and Valery Gergiev and studied privately with his first teacher, Jorma Lautanen in the Hannu Lintu. Lappeenranta Music Institute, Finland. Before starting his conducting studies, Leppäniemi works as Principal Clarinetist Lehtimäki graduated from the Helsinki in the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. Conservatory of Music with clarinet and bass Previously he has held Principal Clarinet clarinet as main instruments, and he has also positions both in Bergen Philharmonic studied the historical clarinets in Austria and Orchestra in Norway and in Lahti Symphony Germany. He has been the artist in residence Orchestra in Finland. He has also been a clarinetist at Iitti Music Festival annually since member of the Oulu Symphony Orchestra 2013 and he is still irregularly performing as where he held the principal e-flat clarinet position. Leppäniemi has appeared as a guest important chamber music festivals, including principal clarinet in the Chicago Symphony the Risør Kammermusik, Lyckeby Festival, Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra in London, Chamber Music in Lake Tuusula, Oulu Music Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Festival, Murten Classics and Copenhagen Philharmonic, Norwegian National Opera Chamber Music Festival as well as the Crusell and Finnish National Opera among others. - Festival. He frequently plays chamber music with musicians such as Francoix Leleux, In 2009 Leppäniemi was the first Finnish Jaques Zoon, Janne Saksala, Ilya Gringolts, musician ever to have won the first prize in Tatyana Masurenko, Severin von Eckardstein, the prestigious Carl Nielsen International Laurent Lefèvre, Trio Con Brio Copenhagen, Clarinet Competition. He also received two Faure Quartet and the Danish String Quartet. special awards in the competition; the best interpretation of Danish music, and the As a keen interpreter of contemporary Odense Symphony Orchestra prize. In addition music Leppäniemi has premiered concertos to the Nielsen competition Leppäniemi has and other works works by Kimmo Hakola, Olli been a prize winner in the international Kortekangas, Sampo Haapamäki and Aki Yli- Prague Spring - clarinet competition, in the Salomäki. international Verdi Note - competition in Italy, as well as the Lahti National wind instrument In addition to being one of the prominent competition in Finland.Leppäniemi is also clarinet performers of our time, Leppäniemi recipient to several award prizes, such as the has made a long term commitment to music 2010 Danish Music Critics Artist of The Year education as well. He currently serves as Award and the most recently awarded Finnish clarinet techer in Malmö, Sweden, as well as States Artist Grant for the year 2014. in Sibelius-Academy in Finland. Previously Leppäniemi has served in the faculty of the Recently Leppäniemi has appeared with Grieg Academy in Bergen, Norway. He has critical acclaim as soloist with the BBC Scottish been invited to give masterclasses in the Symphony Orchestra, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Crusell Festival in Finland, Vitoria Festival Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Bergen in Spain, Raudaskylä Woodwind and Brass Philharmonic Orchestra, Copenhagen Tivoli Festival in Finland, the Royal Danish Music Symphony Orchestra and Danish National Academy, the Sibelius-Academy, University of Symphony Orchestra, including the Danish Southern California and Nurmes Music Festival Premiere of John Coriglianos Clarinet in Finland. Concerto. Most recently Leppäniemi has served Leppäniemi is devoted to playing chamber in the jury for the Carl Nielsen Clarinet music and has appeared in several of the most Competition in 2013, one of the biggest music competitions for clarinet worldwide, love of an young gentleman and terminally ill alongside with Yehuda Gilad, Sabine Meyer courtesan. A short overture starts by a cautious and Philippe Berrod. and tentative section of strings where music moves to a melancholy swinging dance. Any Olli Leppäniemi is a Buffet Crampon artist, big drama is not heard yet. A beautiful and and Rico Reeds Artist. tender introduction creates expecting mood for opening the curtain. INTRODUCTION TO MUSIC Outi Tarkiainen: Joye Giuseppe Verdi: Overture Finnish Outi Tarkiainen (1985–) is a young from La Traviata generation composer who moves naturally in The music of Italian opera master Giuseppe Verdi the field of classical and jazz music. Several of (1813–1901) is familiar to everyone at some level. her works have influences from both genres His works have hade a strong impact on popular and which are having an intuitive and creative culture and the arias have been used as movie conversation with each other. Tarkiainen’s output music and in the commercials. However, Verdi’s consist of vocal and chamber music, works for operas have earned their popularity by musical soloist and orchestra and compositions for values and they are still the most performed jazz orchestra. Tarkiainen got her composition operas around the world. Verdi composed almost diploma from Sibelius Academy and has also 30 operas like Nabucco, Macbeth, Rigoletto, Il studied composition in United States and trovatore, La Traviata, Un ballo in maschera, Aida, London. Otello and Falstaff. For this concert has been chosen a miniature The precursors of Verdi were Vincenzo Bellini, work Joye from year 2017. The title of the work Gaetano Donizetti and Gioachino Rossini whose refers to the ancient French words ’bliss’ and works have also left a footprint in the history ’fortune’. Tarkiainen tells that her idea was upload of music. In the 19th century, Italy was a real to the work all that boisterousness and euphoria superpower of opera. The strenght of Verdi which captures a human being at the moment was a fine sense of drama, practical librettos of intensive happiness. and the mastery of unforgettable melodies. Today we hear an overture from the opera La Uljas Pulkkis: Tales of Joy, Traviata (The Fallen Woman) which is based to the novel La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Passion and Love Dumas jr. The premiere of the opera was in 1853 Also a composer of younger generation, in Venice. The story tells about the disastrous Finnish Uljas Pulkkis (1975–) gained reputation suddenly we have a septet playing inside of an at an early age by winning several composing orchestra. competitions like Queen Elisabeth competition 1999 and Unesco’s Rostrum competition in 2001. Pulkkis studied first mathematics at the Edward Elgar: University of Helsinki but swiched to musicology Salut d’amour and finally as a composition student in Sibelius Academy. The career of British Edward Elgar (1857–1934) is a bit exceptional. He got attention first time as a The composition style of Pulkkis is a mixture composer when he was in his 40s and composed of numerous influences. The prolific composer his most famous works during next 20 years. prefers everything from renaissance polyphony Elgar is one of the best known British composers to Richard Wagner. In his compositions, Pulkkis with his romantic style output and his Land of has also used a big orchestra and its possibilities Glory and Hope song has been considered as a but also later created also spectral music. second national anthem. Olli Leppäniemi interprets Pulkkis’ Clarinet Today we hear a short but charming piece Concerto Tales of Joy, Passion and Love from Salut d’amour which was originally composed 2005. The work stems form Pulkkis’ love to opera for violin and piano. The history of the piece music: The clarinet soloist is like a star tenor goes to year 1888 when Elgar got a new private middle of dramatic events. The concerto consists student, Caroline Roberts who was eight years of three movements but they are played without his senior. The pair fell in love and year later they a break.