14.12. WEDNESDAY SERIES 7 Helsinki Music Centre at 19.00

Osmo Vänskä, conductor Lilli Paasikivi, mezzo-soprano Jussi Nikkilä, narrator

Eero Hämeenniemi: Winter calm and Summer storms 20 min for mezzo-soprano and orchestra (fp, Yle commission)

INTERVAL 20 min

Jean Sibelius: The Tempest, selections by Osmo Vänskä 60 min Introduction Ariel flies in Ariel’s First Song Ariel’s Second Song Interlude The Oak Tree Ariel’s Third Song Interlude Interlude Humoresque Dance of the Shapes Melodrama The Shapes Dance Out Intermezzo Ariel flies in Ariel’s Fourth Song The Rainbow Melodrama Minuet Polka The Dogs Ariel brings the foes to Prospero Ariel’s Fifth Song Cortège Epilogue

Interval at about 19:40. The concert ends at about 21:15. Broadcast live on Yle Radio 1 and online at yle.fi/rso.

2 EERO HÄMEENNIEMI

Eero Hämeenniemi emerged as the cially the Carnatic music of Southern voice of his classical-music generation India – not so much as a treasure in the late 1970s, as chairman of the trove of musical material or exotic ide- Korvat auki (Ears Open) association. as but as the generator of a new type He studied with Paavo Heininen at the of musicianship, attitude and commu- Sibelius Academy, graduating in com- nity. Another of his great interests is position in 1978 and thereafter contin- improvisation; this he has cultivated in uing his studies with Boguslaw Schäfer, his Nada ensemble, for example, and Franco Donatoni, Joseph Schwantner he has variously incorporated it in his and others. As a lecturer and later pro- compositions. fessor of composition at the Sibelius In the 2000s, Eero Hämeenniemi Academy, he has left his mark on con- has developed an even more pro- temporary Finnish music, since most of found relationship with Indian music, the young generation of Finnish com- as reflected in his many orchestral and posers have been his pupils. concertante works. He has also trans- As a composer, Eero Hämeenniemi lated into Finnish and published an- has, however, been anything but an cient Tamil sangam poetry dating back apprentice’s taskmaster. His works a couple of thousand years. The dis- have been characterised by an expres- tance from Stratford-upon-Avon is not sive charge and a curiosity about mu- as long as one might assume. sical phenomena in a broad cultural context. One source of inspiration has Antti Häyrynen been the art music of India, and espe-

EERO HÄMEENNIEMI (B. 1951): WINTER CALM AND SUMMER STORMS FOR MEZZO-SOPRANO AND ORCHESTRA

No. 97 by William Shakespeare is one of father’d fruit’ (the child born after its fa- the most beautiful sonnets of all – and ther’s death). “The very birds are mute, one of the saddest. Absent is the be- or, if they sing, ‘tis with so dull a cheer.” loved, and although it is summer, dark, I am not as a rule inclined to seek freezing winter prevails in the mourn- facile similarities between a compos- ful poet’s mind. Even summer and its er’s life and music. The sad musician pleasures look bleak in old December. does not necessarily write mournful The poet compares the teeming au- music, and nor do his joy and happi- tumn with the ‘widow’d womb’, the ‘un- ness find expression in jubilant music.

3 But this time I cannot swear that there JEAN SIBELIUS might be some connection between the piece and the time it was written. (1865–1957): I began planning Winter calm in an THE TEMPEST India battered by monsoons. The idea of a December premiere in Helsinki set In 1925, the Danish publisher Wilhelm my imagination in motion. The con- Hansen suggested to Jean Sibelius trast between my environment at the that he might compose some inci- time and the premiere venue was fas- dental music for the play The Tempest cinating. by William Shakespeare (1564–1616). Contrasts are in fact central to my Sibelius in time arranged just under new composition: slow/quick; soft/ two thirds of his original 34 move- loud; mournful/jubilant. First, the mez- ments for concert performance, as zo-soprano sings Shakespeare’s sonnet. an overture and two orchestral suites I have given it a very plain and to my (1927). mind very melancholy guise. The cul- Briefly, The Tempest tells the sto- tivated voice of Lilli Paasikivi inspired ry of Prospero, the rightful Duke of me to write music in which the singer Milan whose power has been seized very clearly plays the leading role, and by his brother Antonio with the help in which the orchestra merely provides of Alonso, King of Naples. Abandoned very light support. on a remote island, Prospero tries to When the singer falls silent, the or- bring up his daughter Miranda and chestra comes to life and the music be- a monster called Caliban. To help gins a lengthy growth process towards him, he calls upon Ariel, an airy spir- a powerful, even raucous outburst. But it who causes Antonio and his party all the time, the melodic vocal material to be shipwrecked on the very same lies hidden in the orchestra’s rises and island. With them are Gonzalo, who falls. The ability of Maestro Vänskä and has helped Prospero, and Ferdinand, the FRSO to construct the gentlest pi- who is the son of Alonso and in love anissimos and the wildest outbursts with Miranda. On the island, Prospero are needed in this composition. proves the potency of his magic pow- At the end, the singer returns. She ers, but in the end he is prepared to now just alludes to the sonnet, and forgive his adversaries. the music is even plainer than at The Tempest is a mixture of moral fa- the beginning. Have I here mirrored ble, comedy and romance, incorporat- Shakespeare’s thought? Is this a mem- ing many cultural themes of the era. ory of winter in the midst of summer? The idea of magic may tie in with the Who knows? The composer at least illusion created by theatre and equat- cannot answer that. ed Shakespeare with Prospero. As the well-meaning supporter and bene- Eero Hämeenniemi ficiary of Nature’s secrets, Prospero stands in contrast to the destructive

4 magic of Caliban’s mother, Sycorax, Song (“Full fathom five thy father lies”) mentioned in the play. affords a glimpse of the treasures that The musical tension in Sibelius’s lie deep on the seabed beneath exotic Tempest is between Prospero and Ariel. brass chords and harp glissandos. Around these two, Sibelius composed The Interlude between Acts I and II, the suite’s most enchanting music. The a portrait of wise Prospero, is rich in other elements of the drama are ex- Baroque solemnity and memories of old pressed in a variety of genres: elegant displeasures. lyricism, pastiches in pastel shades, Prospero has rescued Ariel from an stylised comedy or biting realism. oak and frequently reminds him to be In the chromatic orchestral storm grateful for this. In one direction, Ariel raised by Sibelius in the Overture, was depicted as a flute-playing oak. the brass instruments howl and the His lonely flute rests on string ostina- woodwinds wail. Heavy string waves tos like leaves swaying in the wind, and build up to a massive, turbulent cli- the characters grow drowsy (“What a max that strikes straight to the heart strange drowsiness possesses them!”). of Shakespeare’s text: “Hell is empty Ariel’s Third Song (“While you here do and all the devils are here.” Both na- snoring lie”) rouses them from their ture and the human mind are at their slumber. most chaotic, and Sibelius at his most Out stumbles Caliban, a comic, un- modernist. As if at the wave of a ma- couth savage. This blustering figure, ac- gician’s wand, all subsides on cryptic companied by pounding percussions, tritone harmonies. has elements familiar to anyone who The play begins as in a dream. has seen the effects of drink on certain Prospero is reassuring his daughter people of Ugrian descent. Miranda; the shipwreck is but a mem- The delicate portrait of Miranda is a ory. From somewhere on the border simple string miniature expressing the of dream and reality, the leading char- innocent fears and hopes of a young acters have landed on an island to ad- maiden. The comic villains return in the dress both their personal and others’ march-like Humoresque: Stefano the problems. butler, Trinculo the jester and Caliban To help him, Prospero has called the savage led by a clarinet-playing Ariel. upon the spirit Ariel, his entries and ex- Prospero’s description of his its marked by a brief signal issued by treacherous brother Antonio has a a harp placed above the stage. Ariel’s Machiavellian incisiveness and cyni- songs reflect the magic nature ofThe cism: “Conscience? Where lies that? I feel Tempest. In his feelings and his longing not this deity in my bosom: twenty con- for freedom, Ariel is also very human. sciences, that stand ‘twixt me and Milan, The dancing melody of the First candied be they, and melt eer they mo- Song (“Come unto these yellow sands”) lest,” says Shakespeare. contrasts with sea sounds on harp and Ariel proves his power in turning brass. The gloomily undulating Second himself into a winged harpy whose

5 twinge-provoking wind chords and ant company off the stage to the beat orchestral blows frighten the conspir- of an increasingly brisk Polonaise. ators. The Dance of the Shapes ends in light, frolicking mood, but there is Antti Häyrynen (abridged) still a suggestion of constraint in the organ points and pizzicatos. The Intermezzo shows Alonso, King of Naples, grieving for his son OSMO VÄNSKÄ Ferdinand, whom he believes to be dead. The brittle string texture, com- Praised for his intense and dynam- plete with harp, adds to the fairy- ic performances, Osmo Vänskä be- tale-like mood but at the same time came the tenth Music Director of the serves as a reminder of how thin the Minnesota Orchestra in 2003, having thread of life is. previously served as Artistic Director Ariel’s pact with Prospero is about of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra since to end and autumn – parting – is just 1988. He has also been Music Director round the corner. In his Fourth Song, of the Tapiola Sinfonietta, the Iceland Ariel sighs at having so much to do, Symphony Orchestra and the BBC but asks Prospero, “Do you love me, Scottish Symphony Orchestra. master? No?” The low woodwinds trace As a guest conductor, Osmo Vänskä a rainbow that radiates nature mysti- has appeared with many leading or- cism high in the sky. The melodrama chestras, among them the New York, of Iris, goddess of the rainbow, is a Berlin and Los Angeles Philharmonics, wistful waltz that leads to the harvest the Chicago, Boston and Cleveland time in Act IV. Orchestras and the orchestra of the The dance of the naiads – nymphs Amsterdam Concertgebouw. He con- of the brooks – in C major is a ducted his selection of movements Neoclassically-stylised minuet, a light from Sibelius’s The Tempest at a con- pastiche for strings. The dance of the cert with the London Philharmonic reapers hints at the approaching au- Orchestra early this year, in which the tumn and the harvest mood, Sibelius part of Ariel was sung, as today, by here giving it a northerly slant. Lilli Paasikivi and the narrator was ac- Act V signifies a return to every- tor Simon Callow. Other highlights of day life and reality. It begins by look- the present year have included his de- ing ahead, in an instrumental version, but with the French Radio Symphony to Ariel’s Fifth Song, in which he looks Orchestra and performances of all the forward to being free again, and there Sibelius symphonies with the London is a sense of parting in the air. The har- Philharmonic. vest has been gathered in, reminding In addition to the highly-acclaimed that autumn is coming and the spell discs of Sibelius he has made with is about to be broken. The solemn the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Cortège leads the weary, now repent- Vänskä has recorded music by Sibelius

6 with the Minnesota Orchestra. The toire – Brangäne, Fricka and Kundry, disc of Symphonies 1 and 4 brought in Hamburg, Frankfurt and elsewhere. the Orchestra and Vänskä a coveted At the Finnish National Opera she has Grammy Award. He has also released sung the title role in Carmen, Amneris a critically-acclaimed complete cycle in Aida and Eboli in Don Carlos. of the Beethoven symphonies with the This season, Lilli Paasikivi will be Minnesota Orchestra. This season they singing in Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass are recording Mahler’s symphonies 6 with the Oslo Philharmonic and Jukka- and 2. Pekka Saraste, in Michael Tippett’s The many honours and distinctions oratorio A Child of Our Time with the awarded Vänskä include an honor- Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, and ary doctorate from the University of in a concert performance of Wagner’s Glasgow. He was also honoured with a Rheingold at Tokyo’s Suntory Hall. Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Recordings by Lilli Paasikivi include his outstanding contribution to classi- Sibelius’s Kullervo with Osmo Vänskä cal music, and in 2005 he was named and the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Musical America Conductor of the Mahler’s 3rd symphony with the Year. In 2013, he received the annual Philharmonia, and Mahler’s 8th sym- award of the German Record Critics’ phony with the London Symphony Association for his extensive involve- Orchestra under Valery Gergiev. She ment in BIS’s project to record the has recorded Beethoven’s 9th sym- complete works of Sibelius. phony with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and released a recording of the complete songs by Alma Mahler. Lilli Paasikivi has been Artistic LILLI PAASIKIVI Director of the Finnish National Opera since 2013. She is also Artistic Director Lilli Paasikivi ranks among the world’s of the Pyhäniemi Manor concert series. foremost singers of Mahler’s vocal cy- cles and symphonies. She has, for ex- ample, sung Das Lied von der Erde and Des Knaben Wunderhorn with the Los JUSSI NIKKILÄ Angeles Symphony Orchestra, the 8th symphony with the Berlin Philharmonic, A member of the Q-teatteri ensemble, the 2nd symphony with the New York actor-stage director Jussi Nikkilä has Philharmonic and Kindertotenlieder with also appeared at the Finnish National the New World Symphony. Theatre, the KOM and Koko Theatres Since her debut in Wagner’s Ring and in many Finnish films. He has di- with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin rected two plays for Q-teatteri and is Philharmonic at the Aix-en-Provence at present making his directing de- Festival, Wagner roles have been a but at the Finnish National Theatre, major item in Lilli Paasikivi’s reper- in Shakespeare’s Richard III. He studied

7 Shakespearean theatre at the London tral works by Stravinsky, symphonies Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, by Mahler and Bruckner, Haydn’s The which, in its epoch productions, relies Seasons oratorio and concertos by con- on powerful acting and the timeless ex- temporary composers. Among its guest pressive impact of Shakespeare’s text. artists will be soprano Karita Mattila and mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung, conductors Esa-Pekka Salonen, Teodor THE FINNISH Currentzis and Gustavo Gimeno, and RADIO SYMPHONY pianist Daniil Trifonov. ORCHESTRA The FRSO has recorded works by Mahler, Ligeti, Sibelius, Hakola, The Finnish Radio Symphony Lindberg, Saariaho, Sallinen, Kaipainen, Orchestra (FRSO) is the orchestra of Kokkonen and others, and the debut the Finnish Broadcasting Company disc of the opera Aslak Hetta by Armas (Yle). Its mission is to produce and pro- Launis. Its discs have reaped some pres- mote Finnish musical culture and its tigious distinctions, such as the BBC Chief Conductor as of autumn 2013 Music Magazine Award, the Académie has been Hannu Lintu. The FRSO has Charles Cros Award and a MIDEM two Honorary Conductors: Jukka-Pekka Classical Award. The disc of Sibelius’s Saraste and Sakari Oramo. Lemminkäinen and Pohjola’s Daughter The Radio Orchestra of ten play- was Gramophone magazine’s Critic’s ers founded in 1927 grew to sympho- Choice in December 2015 and brought ny orchestra strength in the 1960s. the FRSO and Hannu Lintu a Finnish Hannu Lintu was preceded as Chief Emma award in the Classical Album cat- Conductor by Toivo Haapanen, Nils- egory. Music by Sibelius, Prokofiev and Eric Fougstedt, Paavo Berglund, Okko Fagerlund will be among the repertoire Kamu, Leif Segerstam, Jukka-Pekka recorded during the 2016/2017 season. Saraste and Sakari Oramo. The FRSO regularly tours to all parts In addition to the great Classical- of the world. During the 2016/2017 Romantic masterpieces, the latest con- season its schedule will include a tour temporary music is a major item in the in Finland, taking in concerts conduct- repertoire of the FRSO, which each ed by Hannu Lintu in Suomussalmi, year premieres a number of Yle com- Kajaani, Mikkeli and Kuopio. missions. Another of the orchestra’s The home channel of the FRSO is tasks is to record all Finnish orchestral Yle Radio 1, which broadcasts all its music for the Yle archive. concerts, usually live, both in Finland uring the 2016/2017 season the and abroad. Its concerts can also be FRSO will premiere five Finnish works heard and watched with excellent commissioned by Yle and feature live stream quality on the FRSO web- such pioneers of Finnish Modernism site (www.yle.fi/rso), and the majority as Väinö Raitio and Uuno Klami. The of them are televised live on the Yle programme will also include orches- Teema channel.

8