Santtu Rouvali, Conductor Monica Groop, Mezzo-Soprano Heini Kärkkäinen, Piano

Santtu Rouvali, conductor Monica Groop, mezzo-soprano Heini Kärkkäinen, piano

Mikko Heiniö: Moon Concerto, Piano Concerto no. 8: 38 min Reflections and variations on themes by John Dowland and Hugo Ingelius, fp (YLE commission) I Notturno II Rosso III Finale

INTERVAL 20 min

Leonard Bernstein: Three Dance Episodes from On the Town 11 min I The great lover (Allegro pesante) II Lonely Town (Pas de deux) (Andante - Sostenuto) III Times Square: 1944 (Allegro) Leonard Bernstein: Symphonic Dances from West Side Story 22 min I Prologue (Allegro moderato) II Somewhere (Adagio) III Scherzo (Vivace e leggiero) IV Mambo (Meno presto) V Cha-cha (Andantino con grazia) VI Meeting scene (Meno mosso) VII Cool fugue (Allegretto) VIII Rumble (Molto allegro) IX Finale (Adagio)

Interval at about 7.45 pm. Th e concert ends at about 8.45 pm. Broadcast live on YLE Radio 1 and the Internet (www.yle.ﬁ /rso).

1 Mikko Heiniö (b. 1948): Moon Concerto, Piano Concerto no. 8: Reflections and variations on themes by John Dowland and Hugo Ingelius

Th e Moon Concerto commissioned by the Finnish sky. In it each verse ends with the words “Kung Radio Symphony Orchestra is my eighth in a se- Erik leker på luta” (King Erik plays on the lute), ries of piano concertos in which I have varied the which prompted me to add elements of Dow- generic tradition right down to the choice of in- land’s Galliard to Lachrimae for lute. struments (the fourth concerto has a string or- Th e other texts of the Moon Concerto are three chestra and mixed choir in addition to the piano, expressionist moon poems by Edith Södergran. the sixth a string orchestra and soprano, the sev- After his marriage to Kaarina Månsdotter [lit- enth ﬁ ve percussionists). Th e salient features of erally ‘moon daughter’] Erik XIV, a keen astrol- the Moon Concerto are, as it were, Lied, mezzo- oger, had a seal and coat of arms called Kari Må- soprano and piano. nesköld [‘moon shield’] made for his wife. Th e subtitle Reﬂ ections and variations on Th e melodies by Ingelius and Dowland are, themes by John Dowland and Hugo Ingelius al- however, only part of the musical material for ludes to the world of Erik XIV of Sweden about the Moon Concerto. Other major elements are a which I am doing an opera for Turku’s year as spectral 12-note chord and a pentatonic chord European Capital of Culture in 2011. I use the derived from the notes of the open strings of well-known song Kung Erik, a setting by Hugo the lute. Ingelius of Turku of a romantic poem by the 19th century Swedish court poet Carl Snoil- Mikko Heiniö (abridged) Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990): Three Dance episodes from On the Town

On the Town, the fi rst full-length musical by Le- sical was also made into a fi lm (1949) starring onard Bernstein, opened on Broadway in De- Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra (in which songs cember 1944. Also running at the time at the by Roger Edens replaced some of Bernstein’s Metropolitan was the young composer’s box- music). offi ce ballet hit Fancy Free, and he could also In the fi rst movement a soldier called Gabey pride himself on the premiere of his fi rst Sym- who has fallen asleep on the subway dreams he phony and his sensational debut as a conduc- is a great lover who charms the pin-up of his tor (standing in at 24-hours’ notice for an ail- dreams with his dancing. In the second he sees ing Bruno Walter). On the Town is based on the an older marine seducing and then abandon- same story as Fancy Free: three marines are on ing a teenager in Central Park. Th e Copland-like 24-hour leave in New York. Th e future looks un- melancholy serves as a reminder of the lone- certain because of the war, so together they de- liness that can only be experienced in a huge cide to see as much of life as possible. city, surrounded by millions of people. Th e last Th ere were lots of dance scenes in the popu- movement is a panorama of the men celebrat- lar musical adapted by Bernstein for the orches- ing in Times Square to sounds evocative of the tral work (1946) to be heard tonight. Th e mu- fl ickering neon lights.

2 Symphonic Dances from West Side Story

Bernstein’s West Side Story (1957) is one of the notes as far removed from each other as possi- cornerstones of American music theatre. Th e ble – that manifests both the gang warfare and story is a modern version of Romeo and Juliet, the tragic fate of the lovers. in this case Maria and Tony – two lovers belong- Bernstein took a very liberal attitude to con- ing to diﬀ erent street gangs and ethnic groups temporary culture and was equally at home in the poor district of Western Manhattan. Th e with classical and popular music – at a time Symphonic Dances are an orchestral suite from when popular culture was not even recognised the musical and are performed without a break. as culture. He also had a social conscience. Th e Th ey well conjure up the aggressive energy of a characters in West Side Story represent groups drama in which dance is a narrative medium as of people who cannot make their voices heard important as the music and words. Foremost in in high culture. the suite are elements of Latin-American music and jazz. Sending out sparks at the centre Susanna Välimäki (abridged) is a tritone – a high-tension chord made up of

Santtu Rouvali

Santtu Rouvali (b. 1985) comes from Helsin- with Jorma Panula and Hannu Lintu. In sum- ki and studied the percussion ﬁ rst in Lahti and mer 2009 he was assistant to the FRSO’s Chief later at the Sibelius Academy. Since the age of Conductor Sakari Oramo at the Kokkola Opera 15 he has also spent periods studying in Den- Summer Festival, where he conducted the op- mark. In 2004 he won the competition to rep- era Döbeln by Sebastian Fagerlund to great crit- resent Finland in the bid for the title of EBU ical acclaim. Santtu Rouvali is one of the two Young Musician of the Year. He has been the so- Finnish contestants in the international Jor- loist with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, in a ma Panula Conducting Competition to be held concert in Helsinki of works by Aki Ylisalomäki on November 10-13. Taking part in this com- and elsewhere. Santtu is now concentrating on petition will be 20 contestants from 14 Euro- composition. In 2007 he entered the conduct- pean countries. ing class of Leif Segerstam and has also studied

Monica Groop

Monica Groop has sung at all the major opera tional acclaim for her performances of music houses: in Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt, Lon- of the Baroque, she has excelled in such roles don, Rome, Los Angeles, New York, etc., with as Cherubino (Th e Marriage of Figaro), Dor- the Chicago and Boston Symphony Orchestras, abella (Così fan tutte), Carmen, Octavian (Der the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonics, Rosenkavalier), Orfeus (Orpheus and Eurydice), the Philharmonia, the Leipzig Gewandhaus and Olga (Eugene Onegin), the Pilgrim (L’amour de many other celebrated orchestras. She has also loin) and Anna (Daddy’s Girl). Last year she held solo recitals at such illustrious venues as sang Adriana in the opera Adriana Mater by the Carnegie and Alice Tully Halls in New York Kaija Saariaho in Helsinki, London, and at the , the Wigmore Hall in London and the Vienna Santa Fe opera festival. She was also the solo- Musikverein. In addition to winning interna- ist with the Philharmonia Orchestra in its per-

3 formance of Schönberg’s Gurrelieder conduct- ans and Sibelius’s Kullervo and Th e Tempest ed by Esa-Pekka Salonen. Her discography in- and, under Muhai Tang, a selection of French cludes the complete songs by Grieg and Sibel- opera arias. Monica Groop made her debut at ius. With the FRSO under Jukka-Pekka Saraste the Finnish National Opera in 1987, as Char- she has recorded Madetoja’s Th e Ostrobothni- lotte in Werther.

Heini Kärkkäinen

Heini Kärkkäinen is a regular soloist with Finn- in Finland of the Piano Concerto Steinfeld by ish orchestras and under the baton of such con- Th omas Agerfeldt Olesen as the soloist with the ductors as Sakari Oramo, Jukka-Pekka Saraste Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. Winner of and Esa-Pekka Salonen. In spring 2007 she ap- the Ilmari Hannikainen Piano Competition in peared with the Orquesta Ciudad de Grana- 1984, Heini Kärkkäinen took the second prize da in Spain. She has performed at the Kuh- in the Maj Lind Competition a few years later. mo Chamber Music, Korsholm, Tuusulanjärvi, In 1993 she was Young Artist of the Year at the Turku, Esbjerg, Canterbury and other music Espoo International Piano Festival. For Ondine festivals and at the Charleston Manor Festival she has recorded an award-winning disc of du- in southern England, and chamber music with os by Szymanowski, Kodály and Schnittke with Ana Chumachenko, Robert Cohen, Pekka Kuu- cellist Jan-Erik Gustafsson and the Bartók Con- sisto, Jean-Jacques Kantorow and others. She certo for Two Pianos and Percussion. In 2004 has often been invited to premiere chamber she released a disc of Sibelius duos with vio- and orchestral works, such as the Piano Quin- linist Pekka Kuusisto, and in spring 2007 a CD tet and Bass Clarinet Trio by Mikko Heiniö and of music by Saint-Saëns which the BBC Music the Piano Concerto by Olli Koskelin as the so- Magazine chose as its Record of the Month and loist with the FRSO under Jukka-Pekka Saraste. Gramophone added to its Editor’s Choice list. In October 2008 she gave the ﬁ rst performance

The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra

Th e Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (FR- works. Its programme for the 2009/10 season SO), the orchestra of the Finnish Broadcasting features six world and many Finnish premieres. Company (YLE), celebrated its 80th anniversa- Th e FRSO recordings now number over 100, ry in autumn 2007. Its Chief Conductor is Saka- on the Ondine and other labels. One historic ri Oramo, who assumed the post in 2003 after gem is the Andante festivo conducted by the nine years as its conductor. composer, Jean Sibelius, at the Helsinki Con- Th e Radio Orchestra of ten players founded servatory (now the Sibelius Academy) Hall. Th is in 1927 grew to a full-size symphony orchestra recording is the only known document of Sibe- in the 1960s. Its chief conductors have been lius in the role of conductor. Toivo Haapanen, Nils-Eric Fougstedt, Paavo With Sakari Oramo the FRSO has recorded Berglund, Okko Kamu, Leif Segerstam and Juk- music by Bartók, Hakola, Lindberg, Kaipain- ka-Pekka Saraste. en, Kokkonen and others, and the debut disc Contemporary music is a major item in the of the opera Aslak Hetta by Armas Launis. Its repertoire of the FRSO, which each year pre- discs have won many prestigious distinctions, mieres a number of YLE commissions. All in all such as Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine the FRSO has so far premiered more than 500 awards. Its most recent honour, a MIDEM Clas-

4 sical Award, was for the recording of the Lind- It has visited Japan four times. During the berg and Sibelius Violin Concertos with Lisa Ba- 2009/10 season it will be visiting St. Peters- tiashvili as the soloist in 2008. Another record- burg, Benin, and Stockholm. ing of Lindberg’s orchestral pieces was select- All the FRSO concerts, both in Finland and ed as the record of the year 2008 by the New abroad, can be heard on the FRSO’s home chan- York Times. nel, YLE Radio 1. Th ey are usually broadcasted Th e FRSO has been on major tours all over live and can also be heard worldwide via the In- the world and given nearly 300 concerts abroad. ternet (www.yle.ﬁ /rso).