5 FEBRUARY THURSDAY SERIES 7 Helsinki Music Centre at 19

Paul Agnew, conductor & tenor soloist Katherine Watson, soprano

ARMIDA ABBANDONATA

Jean-Baptiste Lully: Overture Gavotte & Ganerie Menuet & Gavotte ’s aria: Les plus aimables fleurs Armide’s aria: Enfin il est dans ma puissance Air I Passacaglia Prelude La Haine Recitative: “Renaud! Ciel!” Le perfide Renaud Prelude

Carl Heinrich Graun: Scena Ottava Armida’s aria

George Frideric Handel: Overture Gigue Recitative: Dunque i lacci d’un volto Aria: Ah Crudel Sinfonia Aria: Vo’ far guerra

INTERVAL 20 min

1 : Symphony No. 85 “La Reine” (The Queen) I Adagio – Vivace II Romance (Allegretto) III Minuet (Allegretto) IV Presto

Joseph Haydn: Armida (Dramma eroico in tre atti) Sinfonia Recitative: Parti Rinaldo Armida’s aria: Se pietade avete Rinaldo’s aria Armida’s recitative Armida’s aria

Interval at about 20.00. The concert ends at about 21.20. Broadcast live on Yle Teema, Yle Radio 1 and streamed at yle.fi/rso.

2 ARMIDA Contemporary readers of course had no difficulty spotting the links between ABBANDONATA the epic and the religious wars of their own day. In addition to this obvious Armida first appeared in world literature surface link, the work could be read in in 1581, in the monumental epic poem another way. The Council of Trent held La Gerusalemme liberata (Jerusalem between 1545 and 1563 as a reaction to Delivered) by the Renaissance Italian the Reformation then pushing north- poet (1544–1595). She wards bred the Counter-Reformation, is a witch endowed with magic pow- and Jerusalem Delivered may also be ers who joins the Saracens in the fight seen as a comment on this. against the Christian Franks who have captured Jerusalem. Armida attacks the Christians hold- JEAN-BAPTISTE LULLY ing Jerusalem. One of them is the brave (1632–1687): SCENES hero Rinaldo. Just as she is about to kill him, he finds himself bewitched by her FROM THE beauty and falls in love with her. She ARMIDE takes him prisoner in her secret gar- den. Their feelings are mutual, though Armide (1686) was to be the last of the each is tormented by the conflict be- penned by Jean-Baptiste Lully tween love and duty. Rinaldo’s fellow and his most distinguished librettist warriors Ubaldo and Carlo discover Philippe Quinault. It fell into the cat- him and by holding a reflecting shield egory of a tragédie en musique – one in front of him force him to see him- of the major genres of the French self. Rinaldo remembers his duty and and one of Lully’s own crea- abandons Armida despite her entreat- tion. Armide was its crowning glory. ies. She thereupon asks an army of de- Les plus aimables fleurs depicts Renaud mons to destroy her magic palace and (alias Rinaldo) in Armide’s garden and flies back to the Saracen camp at Gaza. is bewitched by her beauty. Her mon- The story of heroes locked in a love- ologue Enfin il est en ma puissance ex- hate relationship does, however, have a presses her conflicting emotions: she happy ending when, at the end of the holds Renaud in her power but she poem, the battle having been won by cannot kill him. Lully’s contemporaries, the Christians, they meet again and are and later such composers as Rameau, reconciled as the tears flow. regarded this intense scene of varying When Tasso wrote his epic, there emotions as a model example of the was still great tension between the expressive power of the French recita- Christians and Muslims – even more so tive. The end of the opera is shot with than during the Crusades. In the 16th anguish as first Renaud departs despite century, the mighty Ottoman Empire Armide’s entreaties (Renaud! Ciel!) and had spread west as far as Budapest. then Armide, now alone, pours out her

3 feelings in noble, solemn and heart- failed to meet with royal approval. The rending tones (Le perfide Renaud). operas of Graun dominated the Berlin repertoire right up to the outbreak of the Seven Years War in 1756. CARL HEINRICH GRAUN Armida, Graun’s three-act dramma (1704–1759). SCENES per musica, was first performed to great acclaim at the Berlin Court Theatre in FROM THE OPERA March 1751. ARMIDA

Philippe Quinalt’s also served GEORGE FRIDERIC Carl Heinrich Graun, a German com- HANDEL (1685–1759) poser, for his opera Armide, though in a remodelled Italian version by Leopoldo SCENES FROM THE de Villati. Graun was, along with Johann OPERA RINALDO Adolf Hasse, a leading representative of Italian opera in the Germany of the Like Hasse and Graun, George Frideric Baroque. He entered the service of Handel turned away from his German in 1735 and when heritage in favour of Italian opera, but Frederick became King of Prussia in unlike them, he spent his working life 1740 was raised to the status of roy- in England. He arrived in London for al Kapellmeister. Almost one of the the first time in 1710, and the first of first things Graun did was to establish the operas he wrote there was Rinaldo. Italian opera in Berlin, and to this end It was premiered in February 1711 and he embarked on a long visit to in was a tremendous success, partly order to recruit singers. This also gave thanks to the visually splendid produc- him a chance to become more deeply tion making effective use of the very acquainted with the Italian style, the latest stage technology. melodic and expressive ideals of which The overture begins in the French he duly adopted. style with a slow, dotted Largo followed From 1742 onwards Graun com- by a quick section beginning in contra- posed no fewer than 26 operas for puntal mode. The overture does, how- the court theatre in Berlin, among ever, also have some solo elements, the best-known of which are the in- and the quick section is followed by an augural one Cleopatra e Cesare (1742), Adagio dominated by a solo oboe and a (1743) and Montezuma (1754). dance-like Allegro. Frederick the Great was a considerable The recitative Dunque i lacci d’un vol- musician, both a flautist and a com- to with orchestral accompaniment (re- poser, and he took an active part in citativo accompagnato at the end of Graun’s work. Time and again Graun the second act gives vent to Armida’s was obliged to sit in his gilded cage conflicting emotions on finding her- rewriting arias when the first versions self unable to kill Rinaldo. With it is the

4 intense aria Ah crudel with momentary its use of the same material for both quick virtuoso flourishes and the extra the main and the second theme. The colour of an oboe and bassoon. In the third movement is a Minuet in which aria Vo’ far guerra that ends act two she ceremonial outer sections sandwich an declares war, and at this point the harp- idyllic Trio, and the finale is a sparkling sichord has a chance to show off in im- Rondo such as was typical of Haydn. provised passages which Handel him- self performed in his day. JOSEPH HAYDN: SCENES FROM THE JOSEPH HAYDN OPERA ARMIDA (1732–1809): SYMPHONY NO. 85, Though best known as a master of “LA REINE” the symphony and the string quartet, Haydn also had a long career in opera. The six “Paris Symphonies” (82–87) He spent nearly 30 years from 1761 composed by Haydn in 1785–1786 for in the service of the Esterházy princ- Le Concert de la Loge Olympique in es, and between 1776 and 1790, opera the French capital marked the climax was his chief occupation, rehearsing of his career to date as a symphonist. and conducting the performances at He was already a complete master of the family’s private theatre. All in all he symphonic style, and each of the Paris composed some 20 operas, 13 of which symphonies is a unique masterpiece. have been preserved. Armida, com- No. 85 is the only one with a name. posed in 1783, was the last of the ope- It became known as La Reine (The ras he composed for the Esterházys. Queen) because it was the special fa- It is a dramma eroico in three acts, in vourite of Marie Antoinette. When she practice a serious opera. heard it, she was enjoying the last of The overture to Armida incorpo- her years in favour, for only a few years rates music from the events about to later she would be relieved of her sta- be acted out. It leaps straight in with tus by the French Revolution, and on the final stages of the fights between October 16, 1793 her head. the Christians and the Saracens. In the Haydn’s symphony is still free from accompanied recitative Parti Rinaldo any hint of revolution. The short intro- of the first act Armida is battling with duction to the first movement with its her love and sense of duty, and in the dotted rhythms reminiscent of a French aria Se pietade avete she begs the overture and the slow Romance, a set gods to bring Rinaldo home from war of variations on the French folk song alive. Their conflicting interests are ex- La gentile et jeune Lisette may have pressed in their joint recitative and the been conscious gestures of respect by following duet Cara, sarò fedele that Haydn to his host country. One nota- ends act one. ble feature of the first movement is

5 The opera Armida reveals Haydn’s Orchestra, been Music Director of the striving to link together accompanied Orchestre Français des Jeunes Baroque recitatives and arias to create dramat- and coached singers at the Le Jardin ic continuity. The wavering aria Cara, des Voix, Les Arts Florissants’ academy è vero in which Rinaldo pours out his for young singers. This season, Agnew feelings in the second act is followed and Les Arts Florissants continue their by Armida’s recitative Barbaro! and aria project aiming to perform the com- Odio, furor, dispetto expressing her dis- plete cycle of Monteverdi madrigals may at Rinaldo’s departure. over the next few years. Paul Agnew’s discography includes Kimmo Korhonen music by Scarlatti and Caldara with the Translation Susan Sinisalo chorus of Les Arts Florissants, songs by Purcell and Rameau’s . He has recorded Rameau’s Les Boréades and PAUL AGNEW on DVD.

Tenor-conductor Paul Agnew is one of the world’s foremost performers KATHERINE WATSON of Baroque music. Highly-acclaimed for his performances in such operas Katherine Watson read Anglo-Saxon, as Rameau’s (title Norse and Celtic at Trinity College, role) at the Paris Garnier, and Rameau’s Cambridge before winning a place at Platée, Les Boréades and Les Indes gal- William Christie’s Le Jardin des Voix antes at the Opéra National de Paris, he academy for young singers; she has also made a name for himself singing since sung extensively as the soloist in Mozart’s Idomeneo in Bordeaux and with Christie and Les Arts Florissants. Haydn’s The Soul of the Philosopher in She made her debut at Glyndebourne Vienna. At Covent Garden in London Opera in Cummings’ The Fairy Queen. he sang in Handel’s Acis and Galatea. Other roles have included Diana Paul Agnew made a successful debut in Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie, as conductor of Les Arts Florissants in Phantome in Charpentiere’s Médée, Paris in 2007, upon which the orchestra’s Virù in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione de Artistic Director William Christie invit- Poppea and Cassandra in La Didone. ed him to accept the post of Associate She has also sung in Handel’s Jephtha Conductor and later Associate Musical and Messiah, Mozart’s Exsultate Director. The appointment has led him Jubilate and Bach’s . to conduct Les Arts Florissants both at In addition to her work in Baroque rep- such prestigious venues as the Vienna ertoire, Katherine has sung in Mahler’s Concert House and the Barbican Fourth Symphony, Lutosławski’s Centre in London and on tour in France Chantesfleurs et Chantesfables and and to China. He has also conduct- Britten’s Les Illuminations. As a re- ed the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic citalist, she has performed Lieder by

6 Schumann, Poulenc, Mozart, Schubert temporary music is a major item in the and Alma Mahler. repertoire of the FRSO, which each Forthcoming engagements include year premieres a number of Yle com- performances of works by Grieg and missions. Another of the orchestra’s Nielsen as the soloist with the Hallé tasks is to record all Finnish orches- Orchestra and the title role in Handel’s tral music for the Yle archive. During opera Thedora at the Théâtre des the 2014/2015 season it will premiere Champs Elysées in Paris. four Finnish works commissioned by Among the works in Katherine Yle. The programme will also include Watson’s discography are Bach’s colourful orchestral poems by Richard Christmas Oratorio, Monteverdi madri- Strauss, symphonies by Shostakovich gals and Cavalli’s La Didone – in which and Haydn’s great The Creation. The she sang Cassandra – on DVD. orchestra’s distinguished guests will in- clude conductors Leonard Slatkin, Kent Nagano, Herbert Blomstedt and Esa- Pekka Salonen, soprano Karita Mattila, violist Tabea Zimmermann and pianist Olli Mustonen. The FRSO has recorded works by THE FINNISH Ligeti, Eötvös, Nielsen, Hakola, Lindberg, RADIO SYMPHONY Saariaho, Sallinen, Kaipainen, Kokkonen and others, and the debut disc of the ORCHESTRA opera Aslak Hetta by Armas Launis. Its discs have reaped some prestigious The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra distinctions, such as the BBC Music (FRSO) is the orchestra of the Finnish Magazine Award and the Académie Broadcasting Company (Yle). Its mis- Charles Cros Award. The disc of the sion is to produce and promote Finnish Sibelius and Lindberg violin concertos musical culture and its Chief Conductor was Gramophone magazine’s Editor’s as of autumn 2013 is Hannu Lintu. The Choice in February 2014. FRSO has two Honorary Conductors: The FRSO regularly tours to all parts Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Sakari Oramo. of the world. One of the many highlights The Radio Orchestra of ten players of the 2013/2014 season was a critically- founded in 1927 grew to symphony or- acclaimed concert conducted by Hannu chestra strength in the 1960s. Hannu Lintu at the Vienna Musikverein dur- Lintu was preceded as Chief Conductor ing a tour of Central Europe. During the by Toivo Haapanen, Nils-Eric Fougstedt, 2014/2015 season the orchestra, under Paavo Berglund, Okko Kamu, Leif the baton of Hannu Lintu, will appear in Segerstam, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Stockholm and tour Finland. It will also most recently Sakari Oramo. visit the EBU Festival in Bucharest with In addition to the great Classical- Joshua Weilerstein as its conductor. Romantic masterpieces, the latest con-

7 The home channel of the FRSO is Yle Radio 1, which broadcasts all its con- certs, usually live, both in Finland and abroad. Its concerts can also be heard and watched with excellent live stream quality on the FRSO website (yle.fi/rso), and the majority of them are televised live on the Yle Teema channel.

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