6.12. INDEPENDENCE DAY GALA CONCERT Music Centre at 15:00

Hannu Lintu, conductor Johanna Rusanen-Kartano, Ville Rusanen, Helsinki Music Centre Choir, coach Jani Sivén

Joonas Kokkonen: Requiem 38 min Requiem aeternam (Andante) Kyrie eleison (Allegro) Tractus (Andante) Domine Jesu Christe (Moderato) Hostias et preces (Allegretto) Sanctus et Benedictus (Allegro moderato) Agnus Dei (Moderato) In Paradisum (Andante) Lux aeterna (Adagio)

INTERVAL 20 min

Sebastian Hilli: Snap Music, fp (Yle commission) 15 min

Jean Sibelius: Symphony No. 3 in C, Op. 52 30 min Allegro moderato Andantino con moto, quasi allegretto Moderato – Allegro con tanto

Interval at about 15:40. The concert will end at about 17:00. Broadcast live on Yle Areena and Yle Teema.

1 JOONAS KOKKONEN: Musically, the Requiem incorporates themes from , but REQUIEM its reliance on core motifs is above all symphonic. The Requiem was to be Joonas Kokkonen (1921–1996) end- Kokkonen’s last great composition, for ed all his works with the dedication he never finished the fifth symphony S.D.G.L.D. (Soli Deo Gloria, Laus Deo – he drafted in the 1980s. Glory to God alone, Praise be to God). Kokkonen’s Requiem is a work of In some way, even his abstract instru- mostly moderate tempos and con- mental works therefore have a spiritual trasts. The opening Requiem aeterna element. For his religious ones he expresses a serene but weary longing turned to the universal texts in Latin for eternal rest, introduces the soloists and a motif technique derived from in- (the soprano as bringer of perpetual strumental music. light) and builds up to a Hallelujah cli- His The Last Temptations of max. 1975 may be regarded as Kokkonen’s The Kyrie’s pleas for mercy are made greatest opus. It tells of the revivalist in a restless Allegro, but the major-key Finnish preacher Paavo Ruotsalainen outburst at the end indicates an under- and its musical themes radiated on lying optimism. The Tractus ignores the into his later works. This applies espe- threats of Dies irae but in seeking re- cially to his Requiem of 1981. Kokkonen lease from the chains of our sins also originally intended to compose an “ec- reminds us of the error of our ways. The umenical mass” embracing various fac- dissonant shouts from the orchestra ets of the Christian faith, but instead it remind us that reflection on the error became a Requiem in memoriam Maija of our ways is in our own hands. Kokkonen of 1981 following the long Domine Jesu Christe is a vision of illness and finally death of his wife. This Christ the Redeemer in which the so- possibly explains the Requiem’s open loists itemise pleas expressed by the expression of emotion and the stylis- choir. Closely linked with this are the tic freedom that began with the opera. sacrifices and prayers offered up by Structurally, Kokkonen’s Requiem for the choir with light, dancing steps in soprano and baritone, choir and or- the Hostias. As far as our souls are con- chestra differs slightly from its his- cerned, we are now over the worst: in torical models. The Second Vatican the Sanctus and Benedictus we can now Council of 1962–1965 removed the Dies relax and praise the Lord, even though irae sequence proclaiming the Last the soprano is taxed to extremes in Judgement from the Catholic Requiem reaching up to the heights. It remains Mass, as did Kokkonen in his Requiem. for the baritone to convince us that Instead, he replaced it with a more “Blessed is he that cometh in the name peaceable Tractus, which also has his- of the Lord” in the Benedictus. All then torical antecedents. join together in “Hosanna”.

2 In the Agnus Dei the Lamb of God The focus in Hilli’s output was in- takes away the sins of the world with itially on , in which he an innocence and insubstantiality at concentrated on sonorities and perfor- which the choir, soloists and orchestra mance techniques, and on contrasts join in wonder. In Paradisum was orig- between energetic textures and quiet, inally part of the funeral service and delicate moods. His approach to sub- used by Gabriel Fauré in his Requiem jects and styles is fresh, but he “has a of 1888. For Kokkonen, it is a personal very personal aesthetic that is under- hymn accompanying his beloved to the lying all of his music, and he possess- gates of heaven. es the technical knowledge and imag- The Requiem ends with Lux aeterna, a ination to realise what he is driven to movement bathed in E-major sunlight create,” as the Jury of the Gaudeamus and birdsong and the hope of perpet- Award reported. ual light and rest. Rather than trage- dy and finality, Kokkonen’s Requiem reminds us of the fullness of life, of SEBASTIAN HILLI: memories of our loved ones and the SNAP MUSIC hope of salvation. The piece was inspired by the English Antti Häyrynen ‘snap’ – a word that can be translated into Finnish in close on 90 ways. The musical material, gestures and charac- SEBASTIAN HILLI ters evolved from this, right down to the details. Sebastian Hilli (b. 1990) studied with Veli-Matti Puumala at the Sibelius “And then I just snapped.” Academy, in Vienna with Michael Jarrell, In terms of dramatic structure and emo- and in masterclasses with Jukka Tiensuu, tion, the salient element of the piece Jouni Kaipainen, Hans Abrahamsen, is “snapping”, i.e. psychological loss of Simon Steen-Andersen, Philippe control. A series of events in which fee- Manoury and others. His Reachings lings gradually swell to chaotic mental (2014) for orchestra won first prize in proportions finally culminates in loss of the Toru Takemitsu Composition Award control. What happens when the sense in 2015 and in the ‘Composers under of control vanishes and all that remains 30 category’ at the 64th International is a dizzy emptiness? Rostrum of Composers in Palermo, gh the underlying idea is a psycho- Italy in 2017. In September 2018, Hilli logical, long-term process and onward won the Gaudeamus Award in Utrecht, drive, there are also episodes based the Netherlands. In 2017, the Helsinki on the idea of ‘snaps’ in the sense of Philharmonic Orchestra premiered ‘shots’ or ‘takes’. These are manifest as Affekt for choir and orchestra, his lar- types of textures made up of shortish, gest work to date. flashing gestures/snaps, producing sometimes abrupt musical cuts.

3 My aim in my handling of the or- Instead of the declamatory themes chestra was to make wide-ranging use of the Romantic era, Sibelius began of its potential. Its sonorities vary from taking his symphonic architectural rich and expansive to small and deli- principles in a more organic direction. cate; there are both dense, multilevel A process necessitating an abundance textures on the full orchestra and com- of time, wine and cigars, it produced ments by individual instruments and an original, multidimensional sympho- groups or solos. The orchestra also trav- ny that pointed far ahead to his late els a path of its own, the instrumenta- works. tion expressing the background emo- The very opening indicates what lies tional process – feelings that gradually ahead: out of a rhythmic, ostinato-like grow from, say, light to heavy, from motif on the cellos and basses, twisting control to the lack thereof, and from and turning around C major, a cheerful emptiness to chaos. march branches off along a new track. The wistful second theme sets a new Sebastian Hilli course into uncharted territory, and from then onwards more and more im- pulses emerge from the rhythmic mo- : tifs. At the end, an unexpected pizzica- SYMPHONY NO. 3 IN C, to episode leads to a fervent hymn-like melody that gives the orchestra’s clos- OP. 52 ing comment a solid solemnity. The folk song-like melody of the sec- After composing his second symphony, ond movement seems at first to swing Jean Sibelius (1865–1957) deliberately along in the manner of an old court tried to get away from the National- dance. The key is a distant G-sharp mi- Romantic idiom. One sign of this was nor and the main theme is examined his move from Helsinki to Ainola, his from very different angles; for this rea- house in Järvenpää, because the com- son, the structure of the movement motion and intrigues of the Finnish is to some extent open. The concept capital were, he said, killing all the song of tempo is also fluid, and Sibelius in him. Only in the forest or in a me- seemed to hear it slower than he tropolis could he nurture his creativity. marked it. Around the middle of the According to Sibelius, he finished movement, time relaxes its pace in the his third symphony in London in 1907. dusky summer night to the meditative More important than the physical dis- strains of a cello. tancing was the spiritual: on the sur- The finale is the most Sibelian of the face, the symphony is almost classi- symphony’s three movements and, in cal in the spirit of Haydn, and as one its telescopic construction, looks ahead French critic wrote at the time, only to the fifth and even the seventh sym- God nowadays writes in C major. Its phonies. It seems to rely on “the crys- rhythms seem to draw on a very free tallisation of thought from chaos,” as conception of folk music and a modern Sibelius put it. approach to thematic development. 4 The scherzo-like beginning presents Hannu Lintu studied the piano and brief flashes of melody and rhythmic cello at the before fragments. A hymn melody on violas joining the conducting class of Jorma and cellos then stealthily emerges. The Panula. He attended masterclasses with hypnotic final build-up gathers force in Myung Whun Chung at L’Accademia the brass and the symphony ends on Musicale Chigiana, Siena and won an assertive C-major chord. first prize in the Nordic Conducting Competition in in 1994. He has Antti Häyrynen recorded on the Ondine, BIS, Hyperion and other labels. Programme notes translated (abridged) by Susan Sinisalo JOHANNA RUSANEN-KARTANO HANNU LINTU Making her operatic debut at both the Finnish National Opera and the Hannu Lintu has been Chief Conductor Savonlinna Opera Festival in 1997, of the Finnish Radio Symphony Johanna Rusanen-Kartano has also Orchestra since August 2013. During had solo engagements at the various the 2018/2019 season, his sched- Finnish regional , the Deutsche ule will include appearances with the Oper Berlin, the Deutsche Oper am Baltimore, St Louis and Cincinnati Rhein, the Moscow Bolshoi, the Teatro Symphony Orchestras, the New Japan Regio Torino and the Teatro Municipal Philharmonic, the Singapore Symphony, in São Paulo. Among the roles in her the NDR Symphony Hamburg and oth- core repertoire are Leonora in Verdi’s er orchestras. Further highlights of the Forza del destino, the title roles in season will include his debut with the Puccini’s Tosca and Turandot, Venus Boston Symphony and the Russian in Wagner’s Tannhäuser, Ortrud in National Orchestra. In particular, he Lohengrin, and Isolde in Tristan und has worked in recent times with the Isolde. Her performances at home Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, the in in the past few years have Washington National Symphony and included the parts of Ida Lankinen the Symphony Orchestras of Dallas and and Kitty Linder in Kantelinen’s op- Detroit. era Mannerheim at the Ilmajoki Music Maestro Lintu also conducts regularly Festival, Kullervo’s Mother in Sallinen’s at the Finnish National Opera and the Kullervo at the Savonlinna Opera Savonlinna Opera Festival. He conduct- Festival, Queen Elizabeth II in Markus ed Giuseppe Verdi’s Otello in Savonlinna Fagerudd’s opera Silvia and I at the in July 2018 and his schedule for spring Tampere Biennale and the Soprano in 2019 includes a production of Alban Iiro Rantala’s opera Sanatorio Express Berg’s Wozzeck in Helsinki. at the Finnish National Opera.

5 Johanna Rusanen-Kartano is also one Opera, the Dutch National Opera in of the most-in-demand Finnish sing- Amsterdam, Scottish Opera, the BBC ers of concert and oratorio repertoire. Proms in London, Grant Park Music Outside Finland she has appeared in in Chicago, and solo appearances with many European countries (including the Bordeaux National Opera and the the BBC Proms in London), Japan, Chile Liège Philharmonic Orchestra. and the United States. Her extensive Ville Rusanen has sung in many repertoire also takes in operetta, musi- contemporary works, including the cals, film music and jazz standards. premieres of Linkola’s Robin Hood, In 2001, Johanna Rusanen-Kartano Puumala’s Anna Liisa, Kortekangas’s was awarded the Karita Mattila Prize. My Brother’s Keeper, Micha Hamel’s She was one of the soloists on the Snow White at the Dutch National Penderecki disc conducted by the com- Opera and most recently Alexander poser himself that won a prestigious Raskatov’s GerMANIA in Lyon in spring Grammy in 2017. 2018.

VILLE RUSANEN Baritone Ville Rusanen first hit the THE HELSINKI MUSIC headlines on winning the prize for CENTRE CHOIR men in the Lappeenranta Singing Competition in 2004. He has made The Helsinki Music Centre Choir of many guest appearances at the Finnish about 90 singers – all experienced and National Opera and was a member of sharing a passion for vocal music – can, its solo ensemble from 2014 to 2016. as required, divide up into a male or fe- At the Finnish National Opera he has male choir. Founded in autumn 2011 been heard in such roles as Papageno, on the initiative of Hannu Lintu, Jukka- Guglielmo, Figaro in The Barber of Pekka Saraste and John Storgårds, it Seville, Pelléas, the Forester in The works in close partnership with the Cunning Little Vixen, the Phantom in main Helsinki Music Centre occu- Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera, pants: the Finnish Radio Symphony Jussi in Madetoja’s , Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic the young Aleksis in Rautavaara’s Orchestra and the Sibelius Academy. Aleksis Kivi, and the title role in Its Artistic Director from 2011 to 2016 Linkola’s Robin Hood. was Tapani Länsiö, whose successors, Highlights of Ville Rusanen’s interna- Nils Schweckendiek and Jani Sivén, tional career have included his La Scala, took over in January. Milan debut in 2013 (in Raskatov’s A The HMCC repertoire, planned joint- Dog’s Heart), and appearances with ly by the main Helsinki Music Centre Vladimir Ashkenazy in Australia and occupants, consists primarily of symp- under Paavo Järvi in Tokyo. He has also honic choral and orchestral works and been heard at, among others, Lyon unaccompanied music for large choir,

6 not forgetting contemporary music. disc of the Bartók violin concertos with The Choir appears in concert from Christian Tetzlaff and conductor Hannu eight to ten times a year, mainly at the Lintu won a Gramophone Award in 2018, Helsinki Music Centre but also at fes- and that of tone poems and songs by tivals. Sibelius an International Classical Music Award. It was also Gramophone maga- zine’s Editor’s Choice in November 2017 and BBC Music Magazine’s Record of the Month in January 2018. Its forthcom- THE FINNISH ing albums are of music by Lutosławski, RADIO SYMPHONY Fagerlund and Beethoven. ORCHESTRA The FRSO regularly tours to all parts of the world. During the 2018/2019

The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (FRSO) is the orchestra of the Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle). Its mis- sion is to produce and promote Finnish musical culture and its Chief Conductor as of autumn 2013 hThe Radio Orchestra of ten players formed in 1927 later grew to symphony orchestra size in the 1960s. Over the years, its Chief Conductors have been Toivo Haapanen, Nils-Eric Fougstedt, , Okko Kamu, Leif Segerstam, Jukka- Pekka Saraste and Sakari Oramo. In addition to the great Classical- Romantic masterpieces, the latest con- temporary music is a major item in the repertoire of the FRSO, which each year premieres a number of Yle commis- sions. Another of the orchestra’s tasks is to record all Finnish orchestral music for the Yle archive. During the 2018/2019 season, the FRSO will premiere four Finnish works commissioned by Yle. The FRSO has recorded works by Mahler, Ligeti, Eötvös, Sibelius, Lindberg, Saariaho, Sallinen, Kaipainen, Kokkonen and others, and the debut disc of the opera Aslak Hetta by Armas Launis. Its

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