DOCSLIB.ORG

FRIDAY SERIES 1 Esa-Pekka Salonen, Conductor Igor Stravinsky

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
FRIDAY SERIES 1 Esa-Pekka Salonen, Conductor Igor Stravinsky 16.9. FRIDAY SERIES 1 Helsinki Music Centre at 19.00 Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor Igor Stravinsky: Fanfare for three trumpets 1 min Igor Stravinsky: Symphonies of Wind Instruments 12 min Igor Stravinsky: Agon 20 min 1. Pas de quatre 2. Double pas de quatre 3. Triple pas de quatre 4. Prelude 5. Sarabande-Step 6. Gaillarde 7. Coda 8. Interlude 9. Bransle simple 10. Bransle gay 11. Bransle double 12. Interlude 13. Pas de deux 14. Coda 15. Quatre Duos 16. Quatre Trios – Coda INTERVAL 20 min Igor Stravinsky: Rite of Spring 33 min I L’adoration de la terre (The Adoration of the Earth) II Le sacrifice (The Sacrifice) 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. Giuseppe Gentile, clarinet Jouko Laivuori, piano Hannu Vasara, violin Maria Puusaari, violin Riitta-Liisa Ristiluoma, viola Tuomas Lehto, cello Esa-Pekka Salonen: Meeting 6 min Esa-Pekka Salonen: Homunculus 12 min Interval at about 19.45. The concert ends at about 20.50, the late-night chamber music at about 21.20. Broadcast live on the French Mezzo channel, Yle Teema and Yle Radio 1, and online at yle.fi/rso. 2 A THIEVING Though speaking in others’ tongues, he told his own stories. CHAMELEON This concert does not proceed in chronological order. The ten-bar (!) The music of Igor Stravinsky is custom- Fanfare for Three Trumpets was origi- arily divided into roughly three stylistic nally intended for trombones and as periods: a Russian one up to the end an opening fanfare for the ballet Agon. of the First World War, a Neoclassical Stravinsky wrote it in 1953 but later de- one until the mid-1950s, and one last- leted it, and it was not performed un- ing a decade-and-a-half during which til 1981, by which time he had been he went on to apply dodecaphony slumbering in his Venetian grave for and even serialism – though not while 10 years already. The Fanfare never- Schönberg was still around to hear it. theless serves as a neat bridge to the This division is, however, very approx- Symphonies of Wind Instruments. During imate, and the Neoclassical period, in his mature period, Stravinsky wrote particular, encompassed such a variety four works bearing titles alluding to a of styles that really and truly it could symphony, but not one of them is in the simply be called just Stravinskian. old symphonic tradition. The earliest He spent the Russian period liv- is the Symphonies of Wind Instruments ing in France, and the Neoclassical in of 1920. Through it, and the ballet Switzerland and the United States, set- Pulcinella he was composing at the tling permanently in the USA in the same time, he shook himself free from 1930s. If ever there was a polyglot and his Russian period, though many of its a cosmopolitan, it was Stravinsky. melodies could be straight from The For his music, Stravinsky gathered Rite of Spring. The word ‘Symphonies’ ingredients in countless directions, does not allude here to the sympho- changing colour like a chameleon. Folk nies of Haydn, Beethoven and co., but music, Baroque, even medieval music, to the original meaning of the word: ragtime and jazz, Orthodox liturgical ‘bringing sounds together’. singing and serialism – his idiom was Dedicated to the memory of Claude a seamless blend of them all. He was, Debussy (who had died in 1918), one could say, a musical kleptomaniac, Symphonies of Wind Instruments is but as he once quipped in a legendary scored for the wind instruments nor- retort: “Good composers borrow, great mally found in a symphony orchestra. composers steal.” But did he actual- It is in one movement, and the instru- ly steal anything? He did admittedly ments mostly play in pairs or small build his ballet Pulcinella on the music groups until all come together round of numerous little-known 18th-centu- the same table in the devout, organ-like ry Italian composers, but a true thief chorale at the end. Virtually nothing re- would not lay out his loot like he did mains of the ornamental Russian peri- for all the world to see. And regardless od. The version to be performed at this of its style and period, all his musical concert is the one revised by Stravinsky material, both his own and borrowed, in 1947. always sounds like genuine Stravinsky. 3 Agon (1957) belongs to Stravinsky’s could hope for. Diaghilev took Paris by late dodecaphonic (meaning ‘12-note’) storm and Stravinsky was his victorious period and in places comes close to se- general. rial music. It was one of his many col- Expectations reached fever pitch laborations with George Balanchine the when, in spring 1913, Diaghilev adver- choreographer and is in practice totally tised a third Stravinsky ballet, The Rite devoid of any narrative plot. The word of Spring. Thirty-year-od Stravinsky was ‘agon’ is Greek and means ‘contest’ or by no means the only lionised name in ‘competition’. This abstract suite for the production: the costume designer 12 dancers is divided into short num- was Nicolas Roerich, the choreographer bers modelled directly on the danc- Vaslav Nijinsky, and taking the leading es favoured at the courts of Louis XIII role was Tamara Karsavina – all daz- and the Sun King. The music is also an zling celebrities in their day. The mu- amusing cross between simple, clear, sic was shocking, and the premiere re- Classical harmonies and 12-tone melo- sulted in a furore well documented in dies not grounded on any specific key. the history of music, opposing factions The striking feature of the sequence even coming to blows. beginning with Sarabande-Step is the Those who sought to sabotage the virtuoso solo violin. The few recurring premiere lost the battle. The dissonant melodic motifs and the return of the harmonies, the wild rhythms and, for exposition section at the end make the times, brash orchestration of The Agon viable concert repertoire even Rite may not startle the present-day lis- without the dancers. tener, but the music has lost none of its By the early 20th century, the primitive drive, and it is this that makes Romantic symphony orchestra had The Rite so highly valued; its essence reached its peak – any subsequent lies within the music itself, not its abil- modifications have mostly been slight, ity to shock. Naturally the timbres and as instrumental techniques have devel- rhythms of The Rite were imitated by oped and percussion instruments have many composers throughout the 20th been added. The reason for this is obvi- century. It can, therefore, be justifia- ous: orchestras mostly play music that bly claimed that ever since it was first had been composed by the year 1900. performed, The Rite has been the most Stravinsky’s timing was fortunate: all significant individual work in classical the big music machine needed now was music, so it was a natural choice for the a composer capable of exploiting it to inaugural concert of the Helsinki Music the full. While assembling his Russian Centre in late summer 2011. Ballet, Sergei Diaghilev had been pres- The Rite of Spring describes the cel- ent at the premiere of Stravinsky’s ebration of spring in pre-Christian Fireworks in St. Petersburg and knew at Russia. The village elders congre- once that he had found the composer gate to choose a young girl to sacri- he was looking for. He therefore carried fice to the spring. The power of the him off to Paris. The ballets The Firebird music lies not in its melodies, though (1910) and Petrushka (1911) were all he there are some memorable ones. The 4 opening, abstract-sounding bassoon also Artistic Director of the Stockholm- theme, for example, is borrowed from based Baltic Sea Festival. From 1992 Lithuanian folk music. It is the wildly to 2009 he was Music Director of the erratic rhythms, the tremendous, sud- Los Angeles Philharmonic, having pre- den changes in dynamics that make viously been Principal Conductor of the the music of The Rite so unprecedent- Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra edly abrasive. No wonder it sounded 1984–1995. nothing short of barbaric to the ears of Among the items in his extensive Stravinsky’s contemporaries. discography is a CD of his own com- The Rite of Spring is in two parts. The positions recorded by the FRSO. The first, The Adoration of the Earth, is in Sibelius-Schönberg disc he made with eight episodes played without a break. violinist Hilary Hahn and the Swedish The ritual dances of the celebration of Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2009 spring culminate in the Dance of the was awarded a Grammy. In 2012 Earth. Part II (The Sacrifice) consists Deutsche Grammophon released a disc of an introduction and five episodes, of Shostakovich’s Orango made by the again played without a break. At first, Los Angeles Philharmonic with Salonen the tone of the music becomes more conducting. mysterious. In her dance, the young Together with the Philharmonia girl chosen as the sacrifice engages Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen has in dialogue with the ancestors and fi- launched ground-breaking music pro- nally dances herself to death in the jects exploiting digital technology, such Sacrificial Dance that brings the work as RE-RITE and Universe of Sound in- to a frantic end. stallations. In these projects, the audi- ence itself conducts the orchestra or Abridged programme notes by plays in it by means of audio and vid- Osmo Tapio Räihälä translated eo projections.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Leevi Madetoja (1887–1947) Symphony No
    Leevi Madetoja (1887–1947) Symphony No. 2 / Kullervo / Elegy 1. Kullervo, Symphonic Poem, Op. 15 14:13 Symphony No. 2, Op. 35 2. I. Allegro moderato – 13:23 LEEVI MADETOJA II. Andante 13:36 SYMPHONY NO. 2 III. Allegro non troppo – 9:39 KULLERVO IV. Andantino 4:53 ELEGY 3. Elegy, Op. 4/1 (First movement from the Symphonic Suite, Op. 4) 5:53 –2– Leevi Madetoja To be an orchestral composer in Finland as a contemporary of Sibelius and nevertheless create an independent composer profile was no mean feat, but Leevi Madetoja managed it. Though even he was not LEEVI MADETOJA completely immune to the influence of SYMPHONY NO. 2 his great colleague, he did find a voice for KULLERVO ELEGY himself where the elegiac nature of the landscape and folk songs of his native province of Ostrobothnia merged with a French elegance. Madetoja’s three symphonies did not follow the trail blazed by Sibelius, and another mark of his independence as a composer is that his principal works include two operas, Pohjalaisia (The Ostrobothnians, 1924) and Juha (1935), a genre that Sibelius never embraced. Madetoja emerged as a composer while still a student at the Helsinki Music Institute, when Robert Kajanus conducted his first orchestral work, elegy (1909) for strings, in January 1910. The work was favourably received and was given four further performances in Helsinki that spring. It is a melodically charming and harmonically nuanced miniature that betrays the influence of Tchaikovsky in its achingly tender tones. Later, Madetoja incorporated Elegia into his four-movement Sinfoninen sarja (Symphonic Suite, 1910), but even so it is better known as a separate number.
    [Show full text]
  • Turun Filharmoninen Orkesteri 20 VUOSIKERTOMUS 15 Luonnollisuus Ja Inhimillisyys Ovat Musisointimme Tärkeimmät Attribuutit
    Turun filharmoninen orkesteri 20 VUOSIKERTOMUS 15 Luonnollisuus ja inhimillisyys ovat musisointimme tärkeimmät attribuutit. Tervetuloa vaan elämysfenomenologiaanne rikastuttamaan! Intendentin puheenvuoro ................................................................................................... 3 Sinfoniakonsertit ..................................................................................................................... 4 Kamarimusiikkikonsertit ....................................................................................................... 6 Lapset ja nuoret ....................................................................................................................... 8 Vanhainkotikiertue ................................................................................................................. 9 Talous ........................................................................................................................................... 10 Hallinto ........................................................................................................................................ 11 Pääsylippujen, kausikorttien ja painotuotteiden hinnat .......................................... 12 Konsertti- ja yleisötilastot ..................................................................................................... 13 Levytykset, radiointi ja televisiointi .................................................................................. 14 Vuoden 2015 konsertit .........................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • 18.9. at 20:00 Helsinki Music Centre Esa-Pekka Salonen Paavali
    18.9. at 20:00 Helsinki Music Centre Esa-Pekka Salonen conductor Paavali Jumppanen piano Lotta Emanuelsson announcer Robert Schumann: Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 54 1. Allegro affettuoso 2. Intermezzo (Andantino grazioso) 3. Allegro vivace 1 Paavali Jumppanen will talk to Lotta Emanuelsson on the platform. John Adams: Chamber Symphony 1. Mongrel Airs 2. Aria with Walking Bass 3. Roadrunner No interval. The concert will end at about 21:15. Broadcast live on Yle Teema, Yle Radio 1 and Yle Areena. Robert Schumann: Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 54 The Piano Concerto in A Minor by Robert crop up throughout the concerto, and Schumann (1810–1856) began life as a also in the background to the first move- one-movement fantasia in 1841. His pub- ment’s second theme. The original fanta- lisher refused to accept it, however, so sia still hovers in the dreamy Andante es- Schumann revised it and in 1845 filled it pressivo section – as a sort of encore of out to make a concerto in three move- the main theme – before the traditional ments with the original fantasia as the development. A cadenza leads to a quick first. He wrote it for his wife Clara, one of coda that draws together all the threads the finest pianists of her day. Though the of the movement. technical demands of the solo part are un- The second movement is a delicate deniably great, they are more a means to Intermezzo bearing echoes of the core an end than an end in themselves. motif and has a romantically melodic In many of his works, Schumann exper- middle section.
    [Show full text]
  • THURSDAY SERIES 7 John Storgårds, Conductor Golda
    2.3. THURSDAY SERIES 7 Helsinki Music Centre at 19.00 John Storgårds, conductor Golda Schultz, soprano Ernest Pingoud: La face d’une grande ville 25 min 1. La rue oubliée 2. Fabriques 3. Monuments et fontaines 4. Reclames lumineuses 5. Le cortege des chomeurs 6. Vakande hus 7. Dialog der Strassenlaternen mit der Morgenröte W. A. Mozart: Concert aria “Misera, dove son” 7 min W. A. Mozart: Concert aria “Vado, ma dove” 4 min W. A. Mozart: Aria “Non più di fiori” 9 min from the opera La clemenza di Tito INTERVAL 20 min John Adams: City Noir, fpF 30 min I The City and its Double II The Song is for You III Boulevard Nighto Interval at about 20.00. The concert ends at about 21.00. 1 ERNEST PINGOUD rare in Finnish orchestral music, as was the saxophone that enters the scene a (1887–1942): LA FACE moment later. The short, quick Neon D’UNE GRANDE VILLE Signs likewise represents new technol- ogy: their lights flicker in a xylophone, The works of Ernest Pingoud fall into and galloping trumpets assault the lis- three main periods. The young com- tener’s ears. The dejected Procession of poser was a Late-Romantic in the spirit the Unemployed makes the suite a true of Richard Strauss, but in the 1910s he picture of the times; the Western world turned toward a more animated brand was, after all, in the grips of the great of Modernism inspired by Scriabin and depression. Houses Waking provides a Schönberg. In the mid-1920s – as it glimpse of the more degenerate side happened around the time the days of urban life, since the houses are of of the concert focusing on a particular course brothels in which life swings composer began to be numbered – he to the beat of a fairly slow dance-hall entered a more tranquil late period and waltz.
    [Show full text]
  • ODE 1211-2 BOOKLET.Indd
    ODE 1211-2 HELSINKI PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA JOHN STORGÅRDS LEEVI MADETOJA SYMPHONIES 1 & 3 OKON FUOKO SUITE John Storgårds20 ALSO AVAILABLE ODE 1212-2 For more information please visit www.ondine.net LEEVI MADETOJA (1887–1947) Symphony No. 1 in F Major, Op. 29 21:13 1 I Allegro 6:39 2 II Lento misterioso 8:07 3 III Finale (Allegro vivace) 6:27 Publisher: Fennica Gehrman Symphony No. 3 in A Major, Op. 55 31:24 4 I Andantino-Allegretto 7:22 Recordings: Helsinki Music Centre, 19, 22-23.4.2013 5 II Adagio 8:03 A 24-bit recording in DXD (Digital eXtreme Definition) Executive producer: Reijo Kiilunen 6 III Allegro (non troppo) 9:00 Recording producer: Seppo Siirala 7 IV Pesante, tempo moderato-Allegretto 7:00 Recording and mastering: Enno Mäemets – Editroom Oy ℗ 2013 Ondine OY, Helsinki Okon Fuoko Suite, Op. 58 13:40 © 2013 Ondine Oy, Helsinki 8 I Okon Fuoko, the Dream Sorcerer 4:26 Photos: Heikki Tuuli (John Storgårds, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra), Atelier Universal, c. 1930 (Leevi Madetoja) 9 II The Guests Arrive 2:30 Cover: Lampi, Vilho: Silta/Bridge, 1928. The Aine Art Foundation, Aine Art Museum, Tornio, Finland. 10 III Dance of the Puppets 2:31 Design: Armand Alcazar 11 IV Dance of the Man and the Woman: Dance Grotesque 4:14 This recording was produced with support from The Finnish Music Foundation (MES). HELSINKI PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA JOHN STORGÅRDS, conductor 18 3 LEEVI MADETOJA (1887–1947): SYMPHONIES NOS. 1 AND 3; OKON FUOKO SUITE Helsingin kaupunginorkesteri (HKO) on Pohjoismaiden pitkäikäisin ammattimainen sinfoniaorkesteri. Sen alkuituna oli Robert Kajanuksen vuonna 1882 perustama Helsingin “What you wrote about your symphonic business delights me exceedingly.
    [Show full text]
  • Sasha Mäkilä Conducting Madetoja Discoveries About the Art and Profession of Conducting
    Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre Sasha Mäkilä Conducting Madetoja Discoveries About the Art and Profession of Conducting A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Music) Supervisor: Prof. Mart Humal Tallinn 2018 ABSTRACT Conducting Madetoja. Discoveries About the Art and Profession of Conducting For the material of my doctoral project, I have chosen the three symphonies of the Finnish composer Leevi Madetoja (1887–1947), all of which I have performed in my doctoral concerts during years 2012–2017. In my doctoral thesis, I concentrate on his first symphony, Op. 29, but to fully understand the context it would be beneficial to familiarize oneself with my doctoral concerts on the accompanying DVDs, as well as with the available commercial and archival recordings of Madetoja’s three symphonies. The aim of this thesis is to understand the effect of scholarly activity (in this case working with manuscripts and recordings) on the artistic and practical aspects of a conductor’s work; this is not a study on the music of Madetoja per se, but I am using these hitherto unknown symphonies as a case study for my research inquiries. My main research inquiry could be formulated as: What kind of added value the study of composer’s manuscripts and other contemporary sources, the analysis of the existing recordings of the work by other performers, and the experience gained during repeated performances of the work, bring to performing (conducting) the work, as opposed to working straightforwardly using only the readily available published edition(s)? My methods are the analysis of musical scores, manuscripts and recordings, critical reflection on my own artistic practices, and two semi-structured interviews with conductor colleagues.
    [Show full text]
  • Niklas Sivelöv Pianist & Composer
    Niklas Sivelöv Pianist & Composer Niklas Sivelöv has around 50 piano concertos in his repertory. 5 of those are his own compositions. Collaborated with: Paavo Berglund, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Okko Kamu, Janos Fürst, Kazufumi Yamashita Kristjan Järvi, Sakari Oramo, Thomas Dausgaard, Jorma Panula, Alan Gilbert, Andrew Grams, Mario Venzago Markus Lethinen, Niklas Willén, Leif Segerstam, Kees Bakels, Sachio Fujioka, Eivind Aadland, Petter Sundqvist Giancarlo Andretta, Horia Andrescu, Ovidiu Balan, Mats Rondin, Yan Wang, Mika Eichenholz, Florian Totan Eric Ericsson, Garry Walker, Grzegorz Nowak, Simon Gaudenz. a.o With orchestras such as: Stockholm Radio Symphony Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philarmonic Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Copenhagen Philarmonic MDR Orchestra Leipzig, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Rheinische Filarmonie Koblenz, Winterthur Stadtsorkester, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra Helsingborg Symphonic Orchestra, Malmö Sympony Orchestra, Bukarest Philarmonic Orchestra Tonhalle Orkester Zurich Orkester Norden, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Turku Philarmonic Orchestra, Norrbottens Chamber Orchestra Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Sundsvall Chamber Orchestra, Aarhus Symphonic Orchestra, Banatul Philarmonic of Timisoara, Västerås Sinfonietta, Norrlandsoperan Symphony Orchestra Constanta Symphony Orchestra, Osnabrück Symphony Orchestra, Odense Symphony Orchestra, South Denmark Philarmonic, Neubrandenburger Philarmonie a.o Collaborates with musicians such as: Leonid
    [Show full text]
  • Sydney Symphony Under the Starssydney Symphony Under the Stars
    SYDNEY SYMPHONY Photos: Victor Photos: Frankowski UNDER THE STARS SYDNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA I AUSTRALIA PROGRAM SYDNEY Ludwig van Beethoven (German, 1770–1827) SYMPHONY Fidelio: Overture Bedřich Smetana (Czech, 1824–1884) UNDER THE Má Vlast: Vltava (The Moldau) STARS John Williams (American, born 1932) SYDNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND Theme from Schindler's List PARRAMATTA PARK TRUST | AUSTRALIA Sun Yi, violin THE CRESCENT PARRAMATTA PARK Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian, 1840–1893) 18 JANUARY The Nutcracker: Three Dances 120 MINS Alexander Borodin (Russian, 1833–1887) Benjamin Northey conductor Prince Igor: Polovtsian Dances Sun Yi violin Leah Lynn cello INTERVAL Sydney Symphony Orchestra Giuseppe Verdi (Italian, 1813–1901) The Force of Destiny: Overture Aram Khachaturian (Armenian, 1903–1978) Spartacus: Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia Camille Saint-Saëns (French, 1835–1921) (orch. Vidal) Carnival of the Animals: The Swan Leah Lynn, cello Jacques Offenbach (German-French, 1819–1880) (arr. Binder) Orpheus in the Underworld: Can-Can Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian, 1840–1893) 1812 – Festival Overture SYDNEY SYMPHONY UNDER THE STARSSYDNEY SYMPHONY UNDER THE STARS SYDNEY SYMPHONY UNDER THE STARS SYDNEY SYMPHONY UNDER THE STARS BENJAMIN NORTHEY SUN YI CONDUCTOR VIOLIN Associate Concertmaster Benjamin Northey is Chief Conductor of the Christchurch Sun Yi was born in Hunan, China. He attended the Symphony Orchestra and Associate Conductor of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music from 1988 to 1993 Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. He was previously where he was the Concertmaster for the Youth Orchestra Resident Guest Conductor of the Australia Pro Arte and Chamber Orchestra. In 1990, he won the third Chamber Orchestra (2002–2006) and Principal prize for the senior section in the China National Violin Conductor of the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra (2007– Competition, and also participated in the International 2010).
    [Show full text]
  • Jean SIBELIUS
    SIBELIUS Jedermann Two Serious Melodies In memoriam Pia Pajala, Soprano Tuomas Katajala, Tenor Nicholas Söderlund, Bass Mikaela Palmu, Violin Cathedralis Aboensis Choir Turku Philharmonic Orchestra Leif Segerstam Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) Jedermann • Two Serious Melodies • In memoriam Jean Sibelius was the most significant figure in the music had to follow the text precisely to the beat, since the his last journey, but he is left deserted. Only an old for a church concert, and ever the pragmatist, pointed out formation of national identity in Finnish music, to the musical phrases reflected the words. There were to be no woman – the personification of Good Works – is willing to that the accompanying orchestra would be small enough extent that since 2011 Finland has celebrated a Flag Day exceptions. The text had to be adapted to the notes; this help @, and Sibelius accompanies their interaction with to be placed in an organ loft. He initially planned to pair on 8th December (the composer’s birthday), also known had to be strictly adhered to.” Sibelius made the same ascending and descending chromatic lines on muted Cantique with the Romance in F major (later included in as the ‘Day of Finnish Music’. The seven symphonies and demands on himself that would later be made on film strings, coupled with booming timpani to produce an his Op. 78) but eventually chose Devotion as its earthly Violin Concerto lie at the centre of Sibelius’ oeuvre, composers: the music should be synchronised with the eerie, unsettled atmosphere. Good Works suggests her counterpart: if the Cantique expresses the joy of spiritual surrounded by tone poems often based on a Finnish words and action, down to the last second.
    [Show full text]
  • Hakola & Hosokawa
    HAKOLA & HOSOKAWA GUITAR CONCERTOS TIMO KORHONEN OULU SYMPHONY OrcheSTRA SANTTU-MATIAS ROUVALI Kimmo Hakola Toshio Hosokawa “Music is the place where notes and silence meet.” – Toshio Hosokawa Kimmo Hakola (b. 1958) has a remarkably cosmopolitan and uninhibited way of mixing musical styles to create startling perspectives. His output includes orchestral works, operas, concertos, chamber music and works for solo instruments. The guitar and music written for the instrument are usually strongly associated with Spain. Accordingly, Hakola brashly and boldly employs ultra-Spanish gestures yet manages to surprise the listener with how he uses them. In Medieval Andalusia, Arabs, Jews, Gypsies and Christians lived together in peace. This fruitful interaction promoted a mixture of peoples and traditions. As folk traditions were rarely written down, they evolved as they were passed on from master to apprentice, from one generation to another. In 1980, Blas Infante wrote that the term flamenco could be traced back to the Arabian term Felah- Mengus, meaning ‘wandering people’. In Kimmo Hakola’s Guitar Concerto (2008), the composer challenges the listener to question the stereotypes associated with guitar music in general and guitar concertos in particular. I commissioned this piece with support from the Madetoja Foundation and premiered it with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra in April 2008. When I write a concerto, I often draw inspiration from the soloist who will be premiering it. In my mind, I imagine myself listening to that soloist performing my music. My Guitar Concerto is a continuation of my exploration of musical worlds with a Jewish origin. While in my Clarinet Concerto I referred mostly to the klezmer tradition of the Jews of eastern Europe, which has a Balkan flavour, the Guitar Concerto has more to do with the musical tradition of the Sephardic Jews of Spain and northern Africa.
    [Show full text]
  • GUITAR FESTIVAL SYMPHONY GALA Presented by Adelaide Symphony Orchestra & Adelaide Festival Centre ADELAIDE TOWN HALL  13 AUGUST 7PM TWO WORLD PREMIERE PIECES
    GUITAR FESTIVAL SYMPHONY GALA Presented by Adelaide Symphony Orchestra & Adelaide Festival Centre ADELAIDE TOWN HALL 13 AUGUST 7PM TWO WORLD PREMIERE PIECES Stellar Soloists, Stunning Premieres Guitar Festival Symphony Gala, featuring Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, boasts world premieres of new works from esteemed Cuban composer Leo Brouwer and Australia’s Andrew Ford. Brouwer’s commission, Austral* for guitar and chamber orchestra, is entrusted to the glorious hands of Spain’s Ricardo Gallén, while Ford’s Raga†, a concerto for electric guitar, was written for the multi-genre Australian guitar firebrand, Zane Banks. The concert commences with soloists Karin Schaupp, Aleksandr Tsiboulski, Leonard Grigoryan and Ken Murray delivering Joaquín Rodrigo’s joyously festive Concierto andaluz for four guitars. “(The ASO is) one of the country’s finest” – THE AUSTRALIAN “I believe Ricardo Gallén is one of the most important classical guitarists in our world today” – CLASSICAL GUITAR REVIEW “Banks gives a masterful interpretation… subtly twisting the shapes through tonal shifts” – LIMELIGHT MAGAZINE “…Schaupp lives up to her reputation as one of the world’s most accomplished classically trained guitarists” – SYDNEY MORNING HERALD “Tsiboulski is little short of a magician [...] producing astonishing varieties of tone from the lute-like early music to virtuoso feats of contemporary dexterity...” – THE ADVERTISER “Ken Murray is a guitarist of rare musicianship” – CLASSIKON CONDUCTOR Benjamin Northey REPERTOIRE Joaquín Rodrigo – Conceierto andaluz Leo Brouwer – Austral for guitar and chamber orchestra (World Premiere) Maurice Ravel – Mother Goose: Suite Andrew Ford – Raga (World Premiere) ADELAIDE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra is South Australia’s largest performing arts organisation and plays a major role in Adelaide’s cultural vibrancy – and 2016 marks the ASO’s 80th anniversary.
    [Show full text]
  • Leif SEGERSTAM Symphonies Nos
    LEIF SEGERSTAM Symphonies Nos. 81, 162 & 181 @ Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra 1 2 LEIF SEGERSTAM (*1944) 1 Symphony No. 81 “After Eighty…” (2002) 25’26 2 Symphony No. 162 “Doubling the Number for Bergen!” (2006) 23’08 3 Symphony No. 181 “Names itself when played... = (raising the number with 100 for Bergen)” (2007) 22’35 Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra (without conductor) [71’29] Recorded live by NRK Alltid Klassisk Recordings: Bergen, Norway, Grieghallen, 9.10.2003 (No. 81), 28.2.2008 (No. 181), 13.11.2008 (No. 162) Executive Producer: Reijo Kiilunen Recording Producer & Engineer: Gunnar Herleif Nilsen ℗ 2010 Ondine Inc., Helsinki © 2010 Ondine Inc., Helsinki Booklet Editor: Jean-Christophe Hausmann Cover Photo: Heikki Tuuli Booklet Illustration: © Leif Segerstam (Page from autograph score of Symphony No. 162) Cover Design and Booklet Layout: Armand Alcazar 3 A SYMPHONY IS MAKING MUSIC TOGETHER – WITHOUT A CONDUCTOR Idea – inspiration – rapid composition. Voilà: a symphony is born! Each of Leif Segerstam’s symphonies lasts nearly half an hour yet takes up only a couple of pages of score. How is this possible? The answer is that the composer leaves a lot of freedom to the performers: not everything has to be precisely notated. Segerstam has been using this technique ever since his earliest orchestral works. But in 1993 he took a new – perhaps intentionally provocative – step and began to write orchestral pieces that require no conductor. His point was to release the latent creativity in orchestra musicians. “I wanted a performance to be a creative event, not a Prussian ploughing competition, which is what bar lines remind me of,” Segerstam said.
    [Show full text]