FRIDAY SERIES 3 Markus Stenz, Conductor Marko Ylönen
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14.10. FRIDAY SERIES 3 Helsinki Music Centre at 19.00 Markus Stenz, conductor Marko Ylönen, cello Dmitri Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 2 in G, Op. 126 33 min I Largo II Allegretto III Allegretto INTERVAL 20 min Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 in B Flat 81 min 1. Introduction (Adagio) – Allegro 2. Adagio. Sehr langsam 3. Scherzo. Molto vivace 4. Adagio – Allegro moderato Five students at the Sibelius Academy will be playing with the orchestra tonight under the training scheme between the Sibelius Academy and the FRSO. They are: Kaia Voitka, I violin, Olivia Holladay, II violin, Valerie Albrecht, viola, Anna Westerlund, cello, and Pauli Pappinen, double bass. 1 The LATE-NIGHT CHAMBER-MUSIC 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: Laura Vikman, violin Jukka Pohjola, violin Riitta-Liisa Ristiluoma, viola Marko Ylönen, cello Dmitri Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 9 in E Flat, 27 min Op. 117 I Moderato con moto II Adagio III Allegretto IV Adagio V Allegro Interval at about 19.45. The concert ends at about 21.40, the late-night chamber music at about 22.25. B roadcast live on Yle Radio 1 and online at yle.fi/rso. 2 DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH of the still optimistic 1920s but also a symbol of the centuries of persecution. (1906–1975): CELLO Comments from the bassoons, CONCERTO NO. 2 French horns and percussions nudge the panicky cello along. The chase Dmitri Shostakovich composed his sec- leads without a break to a seemingly ond cello concerto towards the end unreal fanfare proclaimed by horns and of his life, by which time his earth- side drum. The cello repeats the fan- ly tyrants had been joined by anoth- fare motif in its cadenza, which final- er, even mightier one: Death. Since his ly dissolves into an elegiac ambience first cello concerto (1959) and his rev- reminiscent of the first movement. olution-themed 12th symphony (1961), Competing with the slow, sentimen- he had struck out in a new direction tal theme is a grim dance of death in- with his Babi Yar symphony of 1962 tensified by the winds and percussions. addressing such themes as the fates By the time it reaches the end of the fi- of Jews and women in Russia, viewing nale, it has built up to a furious, desper- them through the poems of Yevgeny ate reminder of the Jewish theme, now Yevtushenko. The symphony invoked on the full orchestra. The cello then the wrath of Nikita Khrushchev and continues it solitary trot to the accom- put an end to the interim lull in hos- paniment of tapping percussions. tilities between the composer and the The solution remains open – some Soviet regime. say like a question tossed into the air. The solo cello begins the first move- Maybe death, cutting short life’s ever ment with a chromatic, introverted more tenuous thread? meditation over which the orchestra then casts even deeper shadows. This sets in motion a polyphonic weave that gets tenser as it stretches upwards. Its ANTON BRUCKNER thoughts continue to roam despond- (1824–1896): ently until a tinkle on the xylophone and suggestions of Klezmer engage in SYMPHONY NO. 5 ironic, ghostly dialogue with the cello. The anxious mood culminates in a solo His fifth symphony was Bruckner’s cadenza accompanied by hammering longest to date, and maybe the most blows on the bass drum, until all that challenging of all. The contrasts – not remains is abject reconciliation. just the loud and the soft, but also “the The cello also begins the second sacred and profane, the ceremonial movement, which the woodwinds build and the intimate, religious and roman- up into a grotesque Jewish dance. The tic, drama and lyricism, march and fu- theme is that of an Odessa street song, neral march, the Ländler and the cho- Bubliki, kupitye, bubliki (Buy My Bread rale” (Constantin Floros) – are broader Rolls) – for Shostakovich a reminder and more extreme than ever, and it is 3 through them that Bruckner examines happy dance rhythms may set the lis- the limits of his cosmos. tener’s head spinning. The tension inherent in these con- The first fugue is light and cheerful trasts is already evident in the first and makes room for idyllic episodes. movement, which begins with a pizzi- The brass announce a solemn chorale cato introduction. The plucked strings theme that, after undergoing devel- of the second and last movements also opment, lays the foundations for the give the music a pulse and outline the second fugue, beginning in the violas. architecture. The ghostly string motif When the first fugue theme joins in as incorporates the symphony’s contra- well, the counterpoint grows into a gi- puntal initiative, which nevertheless ant double fugue. crashes into a wall of brass blaring out The music acquires an even more at full force. mammoth dimension in the coda, Like the first, the slow movement is which thunders out both fugue themes in sonata form. The pizzicatos gener- simultaneously along with the main ate a restless atmosphere, over which theme of the first movement, thus an oboe pipes the lyrical opening uniting and epitomising the whole of theme. Bruckner develops the strings’ existence: past, present and future. rich, exalted second theme more ex- haustively and at the climax raises it to Programme notes by Antti Häyrynen almost brutal brilliance. From then on- translated (abridged) by Susan Sinisalo wards the music sinks back to the ini- tial enigmatic mood. In the main section of the third MARKUS STENZ movement, Bruckner combines a mil- itant scherzo theme with a lusty Markus Stenz is Chief Conductor of Ländler waltz – ominous tension with a the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic cheerful village dance. The Trio section Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor trips along in archaic pastoral vein. The of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, themes of the first three movements and has been appointed Conductor in interlock, but the vital piece in the jig- Residence at the Seoul Philharmonic saw is still missing. Orchestra. His previous positions Bruckner begins the finale as have included Artistic Director of the Beethoven did his ninth symphony, Montepulciano Festival and Chief by recapitulating the themes of the Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony preceding movements. But whereas Orchestra. his predecessor offered a “new tune” in Since studying in Cologne and the their place, Bruckner sets out to solder United States, at Tanglewood with his together with counterpoint to form Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa, a single truth. As in the opening move- Markus Stenz has conducted great or- ment, the sudden cuts from majestic chestras across the world, such as the peals to an amiable string cantabile or Berlin and Los Angeles Philharmonics, 4 the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and Soloist with such orchestras as the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestras, and Camerata Salzburg, the English the Chicago Symphony. Highlights Chamber Orchestra and the Prague of this season include appearances Chamber Orchestra, Marko Ylönen with the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony has also given solo recitals at Carnegie Orchestra, the Cincinnati Symphony, Hall, New York and the Amsterdam the Hallé, and the Salzburg Mozart Concertgebouw. He has been princi- Orchestra. pal cellist of the Tapiola Sinfonietta Maestro Stenz made his operat- and the Finnish Radio Symphony ic debut at La Fenice in Venice and Orchestra, and Artistic Director of the has since made guest appearances at Korsholm Music Festival in 2003, 2008 such prestigious opera houses as La and 2010–2012, and of Luosto Classic Scala, Milan, English National Opera, 2014–2017. In addition to other Finnish Stuttgart Opera, and the Glyndebourne artists, he has performed chamber mu- and Salzburg Festivals. He has con- sic with cellists Natalia Gutman and ducted many Wagner productions in Gary Hoffman, violinist Gerhard Schulz Cologne, among them the Ring tetral- and pianist Leif Ove Andsnes and been ogy, Lohengrin, Die Meistersinger and a member of the New Helsinki Quartet. Parsifal. He is Professor of the cello at the Markus Stenz has recorded all the Sibelius Academy and has held master- Mahler symphonies and many works classes in Australia, Egypt, the United by Schönberg with the Gürzenich States and many European countries. Orchestra from Cologne. His disc of In addition to the staple repertoire, Schönberg’s Gurrelieder has just re- Marko Ylönen also performs contem- ceived a Gramophone Award. Among porary music and has premiered works the works he has recorded with the by many Finnish composers. His dis- Netherlands Radio Philharmonic cography encompasses both new cello Orchestra are James MacMillan’s concertos and traditional repertoire, on St. Luke Passion and Karl Amadeus the Ondine, BIS and Finlandia labels. Hartmann’s Simplicius, Simplicissimus. Among his most recent releases are a disc containing two short cello pieces by Sibelius with the Lahti Symphony MARKO YLÖNEN Orchestra and Sakari Oramo, a CD of the cello concerto by Pēteris Vasks Winner of the first prize in the Concert with the Tampere Philharmonic and Artists Guild Competition and the John Storgårds, and the cello concerto second prize in the Nordic Cello by Joonas Kokkonen with the FRSO and Competition, a finalist in the Moscow Sakari Oramo. Tchaikovsky Competition and the Turku Cello Competition, Marko Ylönen is one of the best-known Finnish cel- lists and chamber musicians. 5 THE FINNISH conductors Esa-Pekka Salonen, Teodor Currentzis and Gustavo Gimeno, and RADIO SYMPHONY pianist Daniil Trifonov. ORCHESTRA The FRSO has recorded works by Mahler, Ligeti, Sibelius, Hakola, The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra Lindberg, Saariaho, Sallinen, Kaipainen, (FRSO) is the orchestra of the Finnish Kokkonen and others, and the de- Broadcasting Company (Yle).