5.3. ELIJAH Helsinki Music Centre at 19.00
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5.3. ELIJAH Helsinki Music Centre at 19.00 Hannu Lintu, conductor Soile Isokoski, soprano Karen Cargill, mezzo-soprano Michael Schade, tenor Arttu Kataja, baritone Singers from the Helsinki Chamber Choir Savonlinna Opera Festival Choir, coach Matti Hyökki Felix Mendelssohn: Elijah, an oratorio in 2 parts, Op. 70 130 min PART I Introduction 1. Chorus and Recitative 2. Duet and Chorus 3. Recitative 4. Aria 5. Chorus 6. Recitative 7. Double Quartet 8. Recitative, Aria and Duet 9. Chorus 10. Recitative and Chorus 11. Chorus 12. Recitative and Chorus 13. Recitative and Chorus 14. Aria 15. Quartet 16. Recitative and Chorus 17. Aria 18. Arioso 19. Recitative and Chorus 20. Chorus INTERVAL 20 min 1 PART II 21. Aria, Recitative and Aria 22. Chorus 23. Recitative and Chorus 24. Chorus 25. Recitative 26. Aria 27. Recitative 28. Trio 29. Chorus 30. Recitative 31. Aria 32. Chorus 30. Recitative 34. Chorus 35. Recitative, Quartet and Chorus 36. Chorus and Recitative 37. Arioso 38. Chorus 39. Aria 40. Recitative 41. Chorus 42. Chorus Interval at about 20.20. The concert ends at about 21.45. Broadcast live on Yle radio 1 and online at yle.fi/rso. 2 FELIX MENDELSSOHN He nevertheless decided to try, and the tug-of-war with Schubring, between (1809–1847): ELIJAH the OT and NT Elijah was resumed. Mendelssohn furiously composed and Felix Mendelssohn’s oratorio St. Paul frequently sought advice and assis- had been a resounding success, run- tance, but their partnership ultimately ning to more than 50 performances came up against a brick wall: Schubring in Germany and Britain over the space stubbornly refused to give way. of 18 months. Encouraged by this, The battle against time was relentless. Mendelssohn immediately set about An English version of the German li- planning a new oratorio. He asked bretto finished by Mendelssohn himself Karl Klingemann, a friend with liter- had to be produced for Birmingham. ary aspirations working in the London (Elijah will be sung in German at to- Embassy of the German House of night’s concert.) At last the oratorio, Hanover, to supply a topic and libretto, lasting more than two hours, was fin- and Klingemann suggested the prophet ished on August 11, 1846. It was then fe- Elijah. His diplomatic career proved an verishly rehearsed, and a fortnight later obstacle to their collaboration, howev- Mendelssohn conducted the premiere er, because Klingemann had either no to an audience of some two thousand. time or no real inclination to write a li- Elijah was a fabulous, immediate suc- bretto. Mendelssohn therefore turned cess and was heard numerous times to Julius Schubring, a childhood friend in both Britain and Germany during who was a priest in Dessau and there- the next concert season. Even Queen fore better versed in theological mat- Victoria expressed her admiration, call- ters than Mendelssohn himself. Their ing Mendelssohn “the Elijah of music” initially lively correspondence soon pe- who turned the people back to musical tered out when they discovered they righteousness and revealed the iniquity had radically different views on what of the false priests. the libretto should comprise. Schubring People in our present secular day and wanted to include the New Testament age are not necessarily familiar with the perspective, but Mendelssohn did not. Old Testament or the prophet Elijah, so Elijah was abandoned. a little potted reminder may be in or- Until December 1845, when der. Israel is suffering from two plagues: Mendelssohn contacted Schubring drought and the worship of Baal. Elijah again. The Birmingham Festival want- vanquishes the prophets of Baal by ap- ed a new oratorio for August 1846. The pealing to his own God and wreaks de- commission would pay well, but there struction on them like some prehistoric was not much time; so little, in fact, that ISIS. The people are so impressed that it was doubtful whether even a compos- they reject Baal, and God has mercy on er as fast and technically accomplished Israel by sending rain. This miracle, at as Mendelssohn could manage such the end of Part I, is one of the most a vast assignment in so short a time. impressive scenes in the whole oratorio. 3 Elijah is in two parts. Mendelssohn league Jouni Kaipainen who was to have succeeded in creating a strong, co- written this programme note but was herent drama even though the orato- not ordained to do so. rio has no real comprehensive plot. A brief prologue, So wahr der Herr, leads Osmo Tapio Räihälä, translated the music to a feverish introduction. (abridged) by Susan Sinisalo The events proceed without a narrator, as told by Elijah, the prophet Obadiah, Ahab the King of Israel, and angels. HANNU LINTU Balance is thus achieved between the soloists and chorus, actively supported Chief Conductor of the Finnish Radio by the orchestra. Symphony Orchestra since August In Part II, Queen Jezebel, a follower 2013, Hannu Lintu previously held the of Baal, incites the people to rise up positions of Artistic Director and Chief against Elijah, who has become more Conductor of the Tampere Philharmonic influential than the worldly kings. Elijah Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor must perish, just as the prophets of with the RTÉ National Symphony Baal. The crowd are out to lynch him. Orchestra and Artistic Director of the Elijah is not, however, afraid, because he Helsingborg Symphony and Turku has faith in God’s protection, and in the Philharmonic orchestras. end chariots of fire arrive to bear him Highlights of Lintu’s 2015/16 sea- to heaven. son include appearances with the One would have thought that the suc- Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, Orchestre de cess of St. Paul would have made writ- Chambre de Lausanne, Orchestre na- ing Elijah easy, but Mendelssohn was tional de Lille, Gulbenkian Orchestra, not content to follow the same tested and the Iceland Symphony, Baltimore recipe. Instead, he took infinite care to Symphony, Moscow State Symphony polish Elijah to perfection. His charac- and Seoul Philharmonic orchestras. He terisation of the prophet is astounding- conducts the Finnish Radio Symphony ly sharp, as is the raising of the widow’s Orchestra on tour in Japan in autumn son, which Mendelssohn transforms 2015 – as part of his complete cycle of from consolation to hope with precise Sibelius’ symphonies with the New Japan little strokes of his musical brush. Philharmonic – and on tour in Vienna, Elijah was soon to be Mendelssohn’s Salzburg and Innsbruck in January own swan song. His sister Fanny died of 2016 with violinist Leila Josefowicz. an internal haemorrhage in spring 1847 Recent engagements have included the – both his parents and his grandfather Philharmonia, BBC Scottish Symphony, had died in the same way – and Felix, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, grieving for his sister and overworked, Cleveland and St Louis Symphony or- suffered several strokes in November of chestras; the Houston Symphony, MDR the same year that took him – where? Sinfonieorchester Leipzig and the Maybe to the same place as my col- Orchestre national de Lyon; and debuts 4 with the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, He participated in masterclasses with the Hallé, and the Detroit Symphony Myung-Whun Chung at the Accademia and Minnesota orchestras. Chigiana in Siena, Italy, and took In May 2016 Lintu returns to Finnish first prize at the Nordic Conducting National Opera to conduct Wagner’s Competition in Bergen in 1994. Tristan und Isolde, having previous- ly conducted them in Parsifal - direct- ed by Harry Kupfer, Carmen, and Aulis SOILE ISOKOSKI Sallinen’s King Lear. Other recent oper- atic projects include Sallinen’s Kullervo One of the most-in-demand sopranos at the 2014 Savonlinna Opera Festival in the world today, Soile Isokoski can be and Tannhäuser with Tampere Opera heard on the world’s leading opera and in 2012. Lintu has also worked with concert stages. Soon after giving her Estonian National Opera, recording debut concert in 1986 she won several Tauno Pylkkänen’s Mare and her son. major competitions. Since her Finnish Hannu Lintu has made several re- National Opera debut as Mimi in La cordings for Ondine, Naxos, Avie and bohème she has appeared to great ac- Hyperion. In summer 2015 he recorded claim at such illustrious venues as the Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky’s Violin Vienna, Hamburg, Berlin and Bavarian Concertos with Fumiaki Miura and the State Operas, La Scala, Milan, the Opéra Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin Bastille, Covent Garden and the New for Avex, while other recent recordings York Metropolitan. She is also a regular feature works by Ligeti, including the guest at many international festivals. Violin Concerto with Benjamin Schmid, Soile Isokoski also has an extensive and Messiaen’s Turangalîla Symphony concert repertoire and has given numer- with Angela Hewitt and Valerie ous Lieder recitals all over the world. With Hartmann-Claverie – both for Ondine pianist Marita Viitasalo she has record- with the Finnish Radio Symphony ed works by many Finnish and Nordic Orchestra. Lintu has received sev- composers, and by Schubert, Schumann eral accolades for his recordings, in- and Richard Strauss, reaping such dis- cluding a 2011 Grammy nomination tinctions as a Gramophone Editor’s for Best Opera CD plus Gramophone Choice Award, a MIDEM Classical Award Award nominations for his recordings and the BBC Music Magazine’s Record of Enescu’s Symphony No.2 with the of the Year award. Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra and In 2008 Soile Isokoski was awarded the Violin Concertos of Sibelius and the honorary title of Kammersängerin Thomas Adès with Augustin Hadelich in Vienna and in 2011 an honorary doc- and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic torate by the University of Helsinki Orchestra. Faculty of Theology. Hannu Lintu studied cello and piano at the Sibelius Academy, where he later studied conducting with Jorma Panula.