13.10. FRIDAY SERIES 3 Helsinki Music Centre at 19.00

ALEXANDER NEVSKY ( 1938)

Frank Strobel, conductor Anna Danik, mezzo-soprano Helsinki Music Centre Choir, coach Nils Schweckendiek

Production company: Directed by. Sergei Eisenstein, Dmitri Vasilyev Assisted by: Boris Ivanov, Nikolai Maslov Written by: Sergei Eisenstein, Pyotr Pavlenko Cinematography: Eduard Tissé Production design: Iosif Shpinel, Nikolai Solovyov, Konstan- tin Eliseev – after the sketches by Eisenstein Music: Lyricist: Vladimir Lugovskoi Sound: Vladimir Bogdankevich Editing: Sergei Eisenstein Editing assistant: Esfir Tobak Historical consultant: A. V. Artsihovsky Military consultant: K. G. Kalmykov

CAST: Nikolai Cherkasov (Prince ), Nikolai Okhlopkov (Vasili Buslaev), Andrei Abrikosov (Gavrilo Oleksich), Dmitri Orlov (Ignat, master armourer), Vasili Novikov (Pavsha, Governor of ), Nikolai Arsky (Domash Tverdislavich, a Novgorod boyar), Varvara Massalitinova (Amelfa Timoferevna, Buslai’s mother), Valentina Ivashova (Olga Danilovna, a maid of Novgorod), Aleksandra Danilova (Vasilisa, a maid of Pskov), Vladimir Yershov (Hermann von Balk, the Grand Master of the ), Sergei Blinnikov (Tverdilo, the traitor of Pskov), Ivan Lagutin (Anani, a monk), Lev Fenin (the Archbishop), Naum Rogozhin (the Black-Hooded Monk)

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Premiere: 23.11.1938

FILMPHILHARMONIC EDITION by courtesy of the EUROPEAN FILMPHILHARMONIC INSTITUTE / Mosfilm, Music by courtesy of Sikorski Musikverlage.

There will be no interval. The concert will end at about 20:55.

2 THE FILM knights attack with geometrical pre- cision (in formations known as a “pig” and a “Macedonian phalanx”), while the After his death, Prince Alexander swarm hither and thither in ir- of Novgorod, began to be called regular waves. The knights are accom- Alexander Nevsky, meaning “of Neva”. panied by an “ice” theme, the Russians The Orthodox Novgorodians had been by one of “fire”. Alexander defeats the fighting the Catholic Swedes, the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights Finns (whose spiritual leader was the in a duel, the ice cracks beneath the at- Dominican Bishop Thomas) and the tackers dressed in heavy armour, the pagan Tavastians. The Battle of the fleeing mob drowns and by nightfall Neva has already been waged when the battle field is littered with corpses. Eisenstein’s film begins. Novgorod is now threatened from the east by the Antti Alanen Mongol Golden Horde. They are al- ready running riot in the fishing vil- lage, but Alexander, a man blessed with THE SCORE great diplomatic skills, manages to ap- pease them. There is an even greater threat from the west, an attack by the Works of a nature are eas- Teutonic knights. Swedes first, then ily affected by the ongoing political the Teutonic knights, and finally the climate, and purely aesthetic values Mongols is Alexander’s strategy. are difficult to see. Both the director, To ensure that he did not stray into Eisenstein, and the composer, Sergei “formalism”, Eisenstein was surround- Prokofiev, adopted a pragmatic atti- ed with colleagues who towed the par- tude to their job. In addition to writing ty line. Nikolai Cherkasov, in the lead- the score, Prokofiev was in charge of ing role, was a member of the Supreme the patriotic lyrics in collaboration with Soviet of the USSR. Vladimir Lugovskoi. The topic of the The film is constructed around two film and its music was quite definitely great epic sequences. Novgorod is bris- the mythical, legendary Alexander, not tling with life. The battle on frozen historical fact. ends in death and disarray In 1939, the Soviet Union having en- and is one of the most legendary battle tered into a Nonaggression Pact with scenes in cinematographic history; it Germany, the film was put on hold. would later serve as a model for many. Instead, Prokofiev decided to use its In the barbaric Battle on the Ice, material for a cantata (op. 78) that Alexander, brilliantly portrayed by took longer to compose than the origi- Cherkasov, entices the invading nal film score. The two do not, however, Teutonic knights onto the frozen lake. differ greatly; mostly, he just cut some The knights are dressed in white man- of the repeats and effects and linked tles, the Russians in dark attire. The certain scenes together.

3 Prokofiev did not draw on authen- ist tradition of Mussorgsky’s Songs and tic material to illustrate the opposi- Dances of Death, in which Death is al- tion between Russian and Germanic ways the greatest victor in battle. It culture, thereby underlining the story’s also highlights the role of women in fu- universal application. For the Russians ture battles, assuring the men depart- he used strings and woodwinds, uplift- ing for battle that they will be faith- ing hymn tunes and folkloristic motifs, ful and, should they be widowed, their and for the Germans harsh, screeching men they will have died a hero’s death. brass. The whole film is conceived as But the film also places women on a an epic panorama divided into scenes pedestal as a military resource when dominated by music or dialogue. Vasilisa, a maid of Pskov, is proclaimed To accompany the opening credits, the greatest hero(ine) in battle. Prokofiev chose music from the battle The orchestration of the final scene scene on frozen Lake Peipus (Russian in the film, when Alexander has re- Chudskoe), looking ahead to the dra- claimed Pskov, is less brilliant than the ma’s culmination. The prologue de- longer cantata version. The rowdy pip- scribes the threat from the west, but ers that dashed past in the battle (the the music focuses on the unease and “skolory”) now rejoice in a triumphant bloody history of the 13th-century scene brimming with happiness and Russian city states under threat from humour. the Mongols. The film was restored in the 1990s Against this gloomy background, and the poor sound track was re-re- the film unfolds a summery vista of corded. In 2003, Frank Strobel recon- Lake Pleshcheyevo and a song about structed the whole score in collabora- Alexander Nevsky. In the same way, the tion with Russian music archives. This spectacle of Pskov, the cruelties im- has since been published and can be posed by the ruling Teutonic knights used for screenings of the film. and the peregrine hymn contrast with the call to arms of the opposing Slav Programme notes translated forces: “Arise, Russian people.” (abridged) by Susan Sinisalo The film’s most famous sequence is the one showing the Battle on the Ice. Prokofiev quickly matches Eisenstein’s montage technique with his darting FRANK STROBEL music, making the orchestral sections and contrasting themes fight with one another. The heavily-armed knights are Even as a youngster, Frank Strobel defeated by the Russian music and fi- was already interested in and nally drown to a timpani accompani- their music. Born in Munich in 1966, ment as the ice cracks beneath them. he worked in the cinema owned by Field of the Dead, for mezzo-sopra- his parents, fascinated by the mar- no, evokes associations with the real- riage of image and music. At the age

4 of 16, he came across the piano score ANNA DANIK by for the film Metropolis (1927, dir. Fritz Lang); he rearranged the music and it was per- Russian-born Finnish mezzo-soprano formed with the film. He would later Anna Danik graduated as a soloist from return to this silent-movie classic when the Royal Danish Academy of Music in a restored version of it was screened at 2007, as a pupil of Kirsten Buhl-Möller, the Film Festival in 2010. and from the Sibelius Academy in Conductor, arranger, producer and . She began her career as a dra- studio musician, Frank Strobel has matic soprano in 2006, with appear- been active for many years in the ances at, among others, the Savonlinna space where films meet music and Opera Festival, the Finnish National is a leading figure in the field of film Opera, the Turku Music Festival and the in concert. In addition to Alexander Gulbenkian Music Festival in Lisbon. Nevsky and Metropolis, he is famed In 2012, Anna Danik switched to for Robert Wiene’s Der Rosenkavalier mezzo-soprano and two years later (1925), Abel Gance’s J’Accuse (1919) and appeared at the Chemnitz Opera as Sergei Eisenstein’s Iwan Grozny (1944– Princess Eboli in Verdi’s Don Carlos, to 1946). More recent films have included great critical and audience acclaim. Her The Matrix (1999) and 2001: A Space other roles in Finland and abroad have Odyssey (1968). He is also a co-found- included Wellgunde in ’s er of the European FilmPhilharmonic Das Rheingold and Götterdämmerung, Institute devoted to promoting fruitful Klytämnestra in ’s combinations of film and music. Elektra, Margret in Alban Berg’s the composer re- Wozzeck, Amneris in Verdi’s Aida and garded the liberal-minded Strobel Luonnotar in the production of Die as something of a kindred spirit, and Kalewainen in Pochjolassa directed by Strobel has arranged Schnittke’s sizea- Karl Müller-Berghausen that received ble film music as suites for concert per- its world premiere early this year. formance. The recordings of these by Among the items in Anna Danik’s the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra varied concert repertoire are the sec- have won prizes and glowing reviews. ond and third symphonies and Rückert- Strobel the conductor is also renowned Lieder by Gustav Mahler, Berg’s Seven for his readings of the standard reper- Early Songs and Modest Mussorgsky’s toire, from the Classical era to the 20th Songs and Dances of Death. century.

5 THE HELSINKI MUSIC THE FINNISH CENTRE CHOIR RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA The Helsinki Music Centre Choir is a band of some 90 experienced singers all passionate about their art that can The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra if required regroup as a male or female (FRSO) is the orchestra of the Finnish choir. Founded in autumn 2011 on the Broadcasting Company (Yle). Its mis- initiative of Hannu Lintu, Jukka-Pekka sion is to produce and promote Saraste and John Storgårds, it works Finnish musical culture and its Chief in close partnership with the main Conductor as of autumn 2013 has been Helsinki Music Centre occupants: the Hannu Lintu. His predecessors as Chief Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Conductor were Toivo Haapanen, Nils- the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra Eric Fougstedt, Paavo Berglund, Okko and the Sibelius Academy. Its Artistic Kamu, Leif Segerstam, Jukka-Pekka Director from 2011 to 2016 was Tapani Saraste and Sakari Oramo. Länsiö, who was succeeded by Nils The FRSO celebrates its 90th anni- Schweckendiek. The chorus master is versary in the 2017/2018 season, for the Jani Sivén. Radio Orchestra of ten players made The Choir made its debut in 2012, its first appearance on September 1, in a performance by the Finnish Radio 1927, at the Aleksanterinkatu 46 studio Symphony Orchestra conducted by in Helsinki. It began giving public con- Jukka-Pekka Saraste of Brahms’s Ein certs a few years later and grew to sym- Deutsches Requiem. Its first year cul- phony orchestra strength in the 1960s, minated in a performance conduct- during Paavo Berglund’s term as Chief ed by Leif Segerstam of Beethoven’s Conductor. ninth, Ode to Joy symphony with the In addition to the great Classical- Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra that Romantic masterpieces, the latest con- has become an annual tradition. Its temporary music is a major item in the own concert of unaccompanied hymns repertoire of the FRSO, which each on the evening of All Saints Day has year premieres a number of Yle com- also become a regular event. missions. Another of the orchestra’s The HMCC repertoire, planned joint- tasks is to record all Finnish orchestral ly by the main Helsinki Music Centre music for the Yle archive. During the occupants, consists primarily of sym- 2017/2018 season, the FRSO will pre- phonic choral and orchestral works and miere six Finnish works commissioned unaccompanied music for large choir, by Yle. The programme will also include not forgetting contemporary music. concert performances of three operas, The Choir appears in concert from the FRSO’s first festival of its own and eight to ten times a year, mainly at the major 20th-century violin concertos. Helsinki Music Centre but also at fes- tivals.

6 The FRSO has recorded works Emma award in the Classical Album by Mahler, Ligeti, Sibelius, Hakola, category. Music by Sibelius, Prokofiev, Lindberg, Saariaho, Sallinen, Kaipainen, Lindberg, Bartók and others will be re- Kokkonen and others, and the debut corded during the 2017/2018 season. disc of the opera Aslak Hetta by Armas The FRSO regularly tours to all parts of Launis. Its discs have reaped some pres- the world. During the 2017/2018 season tigious distinctions, such as the BBC its schedule will include a European tour Music Magazine Award, the Académie under Hannu Lintu. The home channel Charles Cros Award and a MIDEM of the FRSO is Yle Radio 1, which broad- Classical Award. Its disc of Sibelius’s casts all the FRSO concerts, usually live, Lemminkäinen and Pohjola’s Daughter both in Finland and abroad. Its concerts was Gramophone magazine’s Critic’s can also be heard and watched with ex- Choice in December 2015 and brought cellent live stream quality in the web the FRSO and Hannu Lintu a Finnish (yle.fi/areena).

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