Hannu Lintu, Conductor Juha Uusitalo, Baritone Uuno Klami

Hannu Lintu, conductor Juha Uusitalo, baritone

Uuno Klami: Laulu Kuujärvestä (Song of Lake Kuujärvi) 16 min

Bohuslav Martinu: Pamatnik Lidicim (Memorial to Lidice) 9 min

INTERVAL 20 MIN

Gustav Mahler: Der Tamboursg’sell (The Little Drummer Boy) 6 min Gustav Mahler: Der Schildwache Nachtlied 6 min (The Sentry’s Night Song)

Paul Hindemith: Mathis der Maler 26 min I Engelkonzert (Concert of Angels) (Ruhig bewegt) II Grablegung (Entombment) (Sehr langsam) III Versuchung des heiligen Antonius (The Temptation of St Anthony) (Sehr langsam, frei im Zeitmass – Sehr lebhaft)

Interval at about 7.35 pm. Th e concert ends at about 8.40 pm. Broadcast live on YLE Radio 1 and the Internet (www.yle.ﬁ /rso). Th e concert will be televised and broadcast on YLE Teema Kausikortti in spring 2010.

1 Uuno Klami (1900–1961): Song of Lake Kuujärvi (1956)

Yrjö Jylhä (1903-1956) is mainly remembered Th e Song of Lake Kuujärvi was composed in in Finland for one particular type of poetry. His 1956 for a competition arranged by the Finn- great opus magnum was Kiirastuli (1941), a col- ish Cultural Foundation and won third prize. It lection based on and processing Finland’s ex- is Klami’s only large-scale work for solo voice, perience of its Winter War (1939-40) with the an epic for baritone and orchestra about men Soviet Union, and even in later years neither caught up in war and their desire to fi nd greater the man nor the artist ever broke free from substance and meaning in life. Klami’s Song be- thoughts of war. gins to a steady marching beat. A soldier recalls Th ough the war was virtually still raging as tramping the roads round Aunus (Olonets), Jylhä wrote his poems, he nevertheless suc- the heat and exhaustion of battle, when all at ceeded in giving them a highly humane feel. once a magical view unfolds: Kuujärvi (literal- Klami, by contrast, needed a temporal distance ly “Moon Lake”) in all its beauty. In the soldier’s in order to come to terms with the war. Th e mind it is transformed into an idyllic haven and overture Suomenlinna (1940/44) composed in his thoughts turn away from the war. Klami’s the shadow of the war is still battle music dazz- music is quick to react, without exaggerating, led by heroic patriotic visions such as befi tted to the weary soldier’s vision. But the vision is a nation at war, but the note of defi ance later but an empty dream, for the fellow soldier with faded. By the time Klami began his setting of whom he extolled the wonders of Kuu järvi fell Kuujärvi from Jylhä’s collection entitled Poems in the very next battle. (1943) more than a decade later, his attitude to war and its expression in music had complete- ly changed.

Bohuslav Martinu ° (1890–1959): Pamatnik Lidicim (Memorial to Lidice) (1943)

In May 1942 Reinhard Heydrich, one of the sent to concentration camps and the village most notorious leaders of the Nazi regime, was was razed to the ground. Finally its very name attacked by members of the Czech resistance in was erased from German maps. Prague. He was seriously injured, and not even News of Lidice spread around the world and the specialist doctors ﬂ own in by Himmler were reached the ears of Czech composer Bohuslav able to save his life. Heydrich – known by the Martinů, who had settled in the United States Allies as “the blonde beast” and by his enemies for the duration of the war. Reeling from the as “Hangman Heydrich” – died in Prague on shock, he reacted as any artist: in art. In on- June 4. ly a few days in August 1943 he composed an Heydrich’s death sparked oﬀ a wave of Na- orchestral elegy in memory of the Lidice trag- zi retribution. In Berlin and Prague, more than edy. Th e premiere was in New York in October a thousand members (either real or suspected) of that year. of the resistance were put to death. Th e retalia- Memorial to Lidice is one of the best-known tion reached its tragic climax in the little Czech and most moving of all Martinů’s many works, mining village of Lidice on June 10. Th e villag- and one packed with powerful musical symbol- ers were groundlessly accused of taking part in ism. It contains a quotation near the beginning Heydrich’s assassination; all the men of 16 or of a medieval Bohemian chorale, the words over were shot, the women and children were of which “St Wenceslas, don’t let us die” have

2 served the Czechs for centuries as a protest already victorious in spirit, but the fate motif – against oppression. At the fi nal climax the Me- three short notes and a long – also happens to morial quotes the famous opening “fate motif” be Morse code for the letter V, the fi rst letter of from Beethoven’s fi fth Symphony. Th is motif the word Victory. Th ere is also a spark of hope was used by the Allies during the war as a sym- in the fi nal bars of Martinů’s work, which ends bol of victory. Beethoven’s Symphony is in itself in a clear, serene C major. Gustav Mahler (1860-1911): Der Tamboursg’sell (THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY) (1901) & Der Schildwache Nachtlied (THE SENTRY'S NIGht SONG) (1892)

In early 1887 Gustav Mahler happened to penetrating eye on the life of the soldier con- come across a collection of German folk poetry stitute a touching, characteristic group of their called Des Knaben Wunderhorn (Th e Boy’s Mag- own. His musical lexicon of signals, march ic Horn). He was already familiar with a few of rhythms and drum beats here gives depth and the poems in it but was now particularly smit- sharpness to the many anguished emotions ex- ten. Over the next year and a half he set to mu- pressed in the poems. sic 24 poems from the collection – over half his Der Tamboursg’sell was to be Mahler’s last songs, in fact. He scored his earliest Wunder- Wunderhorn song. It is a bitter funeral march horn songs for voice and piano, but from 1892 with a heavy tread that accompanies the army’s onwards the piano was replaced by an orchestra. young drummer boy to the gallows as he takes He also used some of his Wunderhorn songs in his leave of life. In Der Schildwache Nachtlied his second, third and fourth Symphonies. Mahler allows dream and reality to collide head- Th e thing that appealed to Mahler most in on. Th e sentry’s words alternate with the calm the Wunderhorn poems was their authentic folk replies of the girl of his dreams. Th us the young quality. He saw beyond their deceptive simplic- sentry standing guard at night lets his thoughts ity and made their sentiments part of his orig- run free amid the harshness of war, and it ap- inal musical worldview embracing sharply con- pears from his ﬁ nal words that his dreaming trasting moods. Th e songs in which he casts a turns out to be fatal.

Paul Hindemith (1895-1963): Mathis der Maler (1934)

Th e leading character in the opera Mathis der Hindemith was already working on Mathis in Maler by Paul Hindemith is the great German 1933, he received a commission from Wilhelm Renaissance painter Matthias (Mathis) Grüne- Furtwängler for the Berlin Philharmonic. For wald. Th e events are set in the German peas- this he decided to use some of the thematic ma- ants’ uprising of the 1520s. Th e main tensions terial from the opera on which he was work- are religious conﬂ icts and the confrontations ing and gave its three movements titles allud- between peasants and nobles. Th is was a highly ing to the opera and to Grünewald’s paintings: explosive topic in 1930s Germany and one fur- Engelkonzert (Concert of Angels) Grablegung ther underlined by such details as the burning (Entombment) and Versuchung des heiligen An- of books in act three. tonius (Th e Temptation of St Anthony). Th ese Hindemith completed his opera in 1935. It paintings are in Grünewald’s best-known work, could not possibly be staged in Germany, so the Isenheim Altarpiece now in Colmar, France, the premiere was held in Zurich in 1938. While which he ﬁ nishes in the last act of the opera.

3 Th e Symphony completed in early 1934 and his music in a more tonal, traditional direction, premiered in March with Furtwängler conduct- and the well-balanced counterpoint exudes a ing in Berlin won great audience and critical ac- respect for tradition. claim and a little later Hindemith conducted its Th e opening Concert of Angels is the overture recording for the German Telefunken label. But to the opera. Th e slow second movement, En- before the year was over, the wind had turned tombment, is also taken straight from the opera, and the composer began to come under attack. where it is an interlude before the ﬁ nal scene. In December 1934 Joseph Goebbels, the Na- Th e biggest, most complex and most dynamic zi propaganda minister, denounced Hindemith movement in the Symphony is Th e Temptation as an “atonal noise-maker”, a “cultural Bolshe- of St Anthony crafted from music from the sec- vist” and a “spiritual non-Aryan”. Th at the at- ond half of the opera. tack on Hindemith began after the Symphony is ironical, for the Symphony marked a shift in Kimmo Korhonen (abridged)

Hannu Lintu

Lintu has conducted not only the leading or- of the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra. He al- chestras in his native Finland but also the Ber- so works with the Avanti! Chamber Orchestra lin, Paris, Frankfurt and Stuttgart Radio Or- and was Artistic Director of its Summer Sounds chestras, the Sydney and Melbourne Sympho- festival in 2005. nies, the Royal Liverpool and Los Angeles Phil- After studying the piano and cello at the harmonics, the New Zealand Symphony and Turku Conservatory and later the Sibelius the Lausanne and Scottish Chamber Orches- Academy, Lintu entered the conducting class- tras. His term as Chief Conductor of the Turku es of Jorma Panula, Eri Klas and Ilya Musin. Philharmonic Orchestra 1998-2001 was fol- He later attended masterclasses with, among lowed by a three-year appointment as Artis- others, Myung Whun Chung in Siena. He won tic Director of the Helsingborg Symphony Or- the Nordic Conducting Competition in Bergen chestra 2002-05, and in August 2009 he be- in 1994 and graduated from the Sibelius Acad- gan as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director emy in 1996.

Juha Uusitalo

Born in Finland, Uusitalo played the ﬂ ute in all Juha Uusitalo has sung Wagner’s Dutchman top Finnish orchestras before embarking on a – at all the world’s greatest opera venues. career as a singer. He made his Finnish Nation- Th is season Uusitalo sings Wotan in the new al Opera debut in 1997 and was a regular mem- Ring cycle at the Vienna State Opera and he al- ber of its solo ensemble 2000-08. His interna- ready has many engagements to sing in Wagner tional breakthrough came with a performance operas for years to come, particularly the great- as the Wanderer in the production of Wagner’s est Wagner bass-baritone roles, such as Wotan Siegfried conducted by Gustav Kuhn at the Ti- and the Wanderer in Th e Ring, the title role in rol Festival in 1999. Th e leading European op- Th e Flying Dutchman and Amfortas in Parsifal. era houses became increasingly aware of him af- Uusitalo can also be heard at the New York Met- ter he was invited to sing in Wagner’s Rheingold ropolitan, the Vienna and Berlin State Operas and Götterdämmerung at the Bavarian State and the Savonlinna Opera Festival. His sched- Opera with Zubin Mehta conducting. Most of ule for spring 2010 includes his Covent Gar-

4 den debut as Scarpia in Tosca and the title role and Lied singer, Uusitalo regularly works with in Th e Flying Dutchman at the New York Met- the world’s most celebrated conductors. ropolitan. Also in demand as a concert soloist

The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra

Th e Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (FRSO), With Sakari Oramo the FRSO has record- the orchestra of the Finnish Broadcasting Com- ed music by Bartók, Hakola, Lindberg, Kaipai- pany (YLE), celebrated its 80th anniversary in nen, Kokkonen and others, and the debut disc autumn 2007. Its Chief Conductor is Sakari of the opera Aslak Hetta by Armas Launis. Its Oramo, who assumed the post in 2003 after discs have won many prestigious distinctions, nine years as its conductor. such as Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine Th e Radio Orchestra of ten players founded awards. Its most recent honour, a MIDEM Clas- in 1927 grew to a full-size symphony orchestra sical Award, was for the recording of the Lind- in the 1960s. Its chief conductors have been berg and Sibelius Violin Concertos with Lisa Ba- Toivo Haapanen, Nils-Eric Fougstedt, Paavo tiashvili as the soloist in 2008. Another record- Berglund, Okko Kamu, Leif Segerstam and Juk- ing of Lindberg’s orchestral pieces was select- ka-Pekka Saraste. ed as the record of the year 2008 by the New Contemporary music is a major item in the York Times. repertoire of the FRSO, which each year pre- Th e FRSO has been on major tours all over mieres a number of YLE commissions. All in all the world and given nearly 300 concerts abroad. the FRSO has so far premiered more than 500 It has visited Japan four times. During the works. Its programme for the 2009/10 season 2009/10 season it will be visiting St. Peters- features six world and many Finnish premieres. burg, Benin, and Stockholm. Th e FRSO recordings now number over 100, All the FRSO concerts, both in Finland and on the Ondine and other labels. One historic abroad, can be heard on the FRSO’s home chan- gem is the Andante festivo conducted by the nel, YLE Radio 1. Th ey are usually broadcasted composer, Jean Sibelius, at the Helsinki Con- live and can also be heard worldwide via the In- servatory (now the Sibelius Academy) Hall. Th is ternet (www.yle.ﬁ /rso). recording is the only known document of Sibe- lius in the role of conductor.