SATURDAY REPEAT Hannu Lintu, Conductor Benjamin
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17.2. SATURDAY REPEAT Helsinki Music Centre at 15:00 Hannu Lintu, conductor Benjamin Grosvenor, piano Jean Sibelius: Symphony No. 7 in C Major, Op. 105 21 min Adagio – Un pochett, meno adagio – Vivacissimo – Adagio – Allegro molto moderato – Allegro moderato – Vivace – Presto – Adagio – Largamente molto – Affettuoso Frédéric Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, 32 min Op. 21 I Maestoso II Larghetto III Allegro vivace INTERVAL 20 min Jean Sibelius: Symphony No. 5 in E-flat Major, Op. 82 31 min I Tempo molto moderato – Largamente – Allegro moderato – Presto II Andante mosso, quasi allegretto III Allegro molto – Un pochettino largamente Interval at about 16:00. The concert will end at about 17:00. 1 A GARGANTUAN version of his fifth symphony. Again and again he returned his seventh to MASTERPIECE the drawing board before he was finally satisfied. The symphony reigned supreme as a The overall form of the seventh sym- genre among Finnish composers at the phony is, somewhat surprisingly, fair- end of the 19th century. Jean Sibelius, ly simple. An A-minor scale rising from who had already made a name for him- the depths erupts on an A-flat minor self as a composer of symphonic po- chord, leading to a graceful motif on ems, first entertained the idea of a sym- the flutes. The polyphonic opening is phony in 1899. He would later go on to followed after a good five minutes by a compose six more (plus one he later de- heavenly trombone solo that turns out stroyed), but not necessarily in the same to be something of a landmark, since mould as those of his Germanic prede- it will later return in a minor key. After cessors. Rather, his genius lay in his abil- a repeat comes what Sibelius called a ity to adapt the concept of the sympho- “Hellenic rondo”, and at the end, the ny to his purposes. He nevertheless had French horns take over the trombone some initial doubts about his seventh solo theme. The flute motif heard at the symphony. His sixth had been a great beginning returns after the final build- success in Stockholm in 1923, prompt- up, to be followed by an astonishing, ing the Konsertförening (now the Royal brief quotation from one of Sibelius’s Philharmonic) to issue an immediate greatest hits, the Valse triste. The sym- re-invitation and the hope of a new phony ends on a C-major chord heard work. Sibelius obliged with the Fantasia from two directions. sinfonica he conducted at its premiere in 1924. It was, he enthused in a letter to Osmo Tapio Räihälä his wife, one of his best works, and he renamed it Symphony No. 7. The reason for Sibelius’s doubts was FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN: its format, a single movement. Could PIANO CONCERTO it be classified as a symphony such as those of Beethoven, with a first move- NO. 2 ment in sonata form, a slow second movement, a scherzo and a finale? Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849) composed Unlike Tapiola, composed two years lat- his two piano concertos in a matter of er, it definitely deserved to be called a months in 1829–1830. That in F minor symphony in that it was absolute music came first, but it was not published un- and not a symphonic poem. til after the one in E minor. This explains Composing the seventh symphony why the F minor one is numbered 2 and was a gargantuan task for Sibelius. His has a higher opus number. first indications of it date from 1914, Concerto No. 2, Op. 21 is a mixture of when he was still working on the first Classical and Romantic, and a veritable 2 feast for the piano. The orchestra’s role (1907) found a well-balanced, monu- is mainly to support the imaginative pi- mental and optimistic outlet in the fifth ano rather than engaging in equal dia- symphony of 1915. logue as is often the case in concertos. In the earliest version of Symphony The orchestral parts nevertheless make No. 5, the first movement was still in logical comments and provide a firm two sections, whereas the final version foundation for the piano. The solemn, combines the sonata-form opening and tragic orchestral introduction sets the the scherzo in a single cumulative build- first movement, Maestoso in motion. up. Sibelius uses little motifs to mould The piano takes up motifs fed by the great growth processes set in motion by orchestra, allowing them to meander in an opening gesture on the timpani and the brilliant, richly ornamental style typ- French horns and woodwind motifs in- ical of their composer. spired by this gesture. If anything, the piano’s imagination is The real growth begins with the possibly allowed to soar even more free- strings, and the recurring climax erupts ly in the slow movement, Larghetto, than in a rocking movement that later acts as in the first. In its twilight virtuosity, the the point of gravity for the finale. The music calls to mind the later Nocturnes, opening movement subsides and grows and it was inspired by Constantia denser in a mysterious Largamente ep- Gladowska, with whom Chopin had fall- isode that culminates in a solo bassoon en in love at the age of 19. lament. The second movement is sim- The vigorous Allegro vivace dancing ple by comparison with the movements along in 3/4 time like a mazurka, re- framing it, a theme and variations. In its flects Chopin’s liking for Polish folk mu- exposition, the idyllic theme is support- sic. The movement is more straightfor- ed only by the low strings and French ward and less dreamy than the other horns swaying in the background. In the two, and brings the concerto to a lively fifth variation, string pizzicatos lead un- conclusion. expectedly to a fit of rage on the brass, making the oboe variation which fol- Matti Mustonen lows sound placatory and the closing scene romantically nostalgic. The finale begins with a robust tremo- JEAN SIBELIUS lo motif: joining with the rustle of spring (1865–1957): are timpani rolls and woodwind stac- catos, and soon also the swaying horn SYMPHONY NO. 5 theme. At the end the music seems to rise into the air, measuring in giant The nature associations in the music leaps the distance from earthly misery of Jean Sibelius are architectural rather and catapulting into space on six forte than scenic. The departure from and ex- chords. pansion of the traditional composition formats begun in the third symphony Antti Häyrynen 3 HANNU LINTU A regular in the pit, Lintu returns to the Savonlinna Opera Festival in July 2018 to conduct Verdi’s Otello – in 2017 The 2017/18 season marks Hannu he conducted Aulis Sallinen’s Kullervo Lintu’s fifth year as Chief Conductor of at Savonlinna as well as Sibelius’s the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Kullervo for the Finnish National Opera A concert tour to Russia and a perfor- and Ballet as part of their special col- mance of Väinö Raitio’s Princess Cecilia laborative project with director/chore- at the Helsinki Festival – part of celebra- ographer Tero Saarinen. Previous pro- tions marking 100 years of Finnish in- ductions with Finnish National Opera dependence – were among last season’s include Parsifal, Carmen, Sallinen’s King highlights, and on 6 December 2017 the Lear, and Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde in orchestra honours both its 90th anniver- spring 2016. Lintu has also worked with sary and 100-year-old Finland with pre- Tampere Opera and Estonian National mieres of newly commissioned works Opera. by longtime FRSO collaborator Magnus Lindberg and Lotta Wennäkoski. Other forthcoming engagements include per- BENJAMIN formances of Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle GROSVENOR and Beethoven’s Fidelio, and a concert tour to Spain and Germany with cellist Sol Gabetta. British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor is The 2017/18 season sees Lintu return one of the world’s most sought-after to the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony and most highly-acclaimed young pi- Orchestra, Washington’s National anists. The Independent described his Symphony Orchestra, and the Dallas distinctive sound as ‘poetic and gently Symp hony and Detroit Symphony or- ironic, brilliant yet clear-minded, intelli- chestras, among others. Lintu also gent but not without humour, all trans- makes his debut with the Naples lated through a beautifully clear and Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony singing touch’. Taught first by his pianist and Hiroshima Symphony orches- mother, Benjamin made a name for him- tras. Recent engagements include self at an exceptionally early age, giving the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester his first recital when he was only 10, in Berlin, Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, 2003, and making his debut in the same Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Seoul year as the soloist in Mozart’s Piano Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Concerto No. 21. The following year he St Louis Symphony, Baltimore and was the winner of the Keyboard Final of Toronto Symphony orchestras, as well the BBC Young Musician Competition, as three acclaimed European debuts: and in 2011 he was the youngest soloist Staatsorchester Stuttgart Opera, Radio- (in Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2) ever to Symphonieorchester Wien and NDR have appeared on the First Night of the Elbphilharmonie Orchester. BBC Proms. 4 Benjamin Grosvenor studied at the Hannu Lintu. His predecessors as Chief Royal Academy of Music in London Conductor were Toivo Haapanen, Nils- with Christopher Elton and Daniel-Ben Eric Fougstedt, Paavo Berglund, Okko Pienaar, graduating in 2012. He has Kamu, Leif Segerstam, Jukka-Pekka worked with numerous esteemed or- Saraste and Sakari Oramo. chestras and conductors the world over; The FRSO celebrates its 90th anni- in spring 2018 these include the Boston versary in the 2017/2018 season, for the Symphony, the Filarmonica della Scala Radio Orchestra of ten players made and the New York Philharmonic, in ad- its first appearance on September 1, dition to the FRSO.