Concert Programme

5.3. at 19:00 Helsinki Music Centre József Hárs conductor Yuki Koyama flute Carl Nielsen: Flute Concerto 19 min 1. Allegro moderato 2. Allegretto INTERVAL 20 min 1 Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10 in E Minor, Op. 93 53 min 1. Moderato 2. Scherzo. Allegro 3. Allegretto 4. Andante – Allegro Interval at about 19:35. The concert will end at about 21:00. Carl Nielsen: Dmitri Flute Concerto Shostakovich: Carl Nielsen (1865–1931) assigned the Symphony No. 10 in woodwind instruments individual roles in E Minor, Op. 93 his six symphonies. In his wind quintet of 1922 he examined their specific charac- The tenth symphony by Dmitri Shosta- ters. He began work on a set of wind con- kovich (1906–1975) in 1953 became qui- certos but managed to finish only tho- te a political talking point in the Soviet se for flute and for clarinet before death Union. Eight years had passed since intervened. the somewhat criticised cheerful ninth The Flute Concerto composed by symphony and Stalin had died only a few Nielsen for Holger Gilbert Jespersen in months earlier. Despite an article in Pravda 1925–1926 is the finest work in its gen- proclaiming the artist’s fundamental right re since those of Mozart. It is not particu- to creative freedom and bold experimen- larly classical: in only two movements, it tation, the opportunist musical circles still would appear to lack a slow movement, hung on to the old doctrines. Audiences but scenes in different moods are in fact were startled by the tragic strains of the woven into the second. Often adventur- tenth symphony; the composer Andrei 2 ing beyond the realm of tonality, the mu- Volkonsky arrived at some sort of comp- sic has a distinctly modernist feel. romise in calling it “an optimistic tragedy”. Nielsen does not place his soloist in op- For at the nerve centre of his tenth sym- position to his orchestra. The bubbling so- phony Shostakovich placed his innermost loist often converses with the orchestra’s thoughts and experiences, just as he did winds, and rather than accompanying, in many of his chamber works. Revealing the orchestra comments, applauds and his true identity became important in an prods. At the end of the movement the environment that obliged him to assume orchestra withdraws and the soloist goes many different guises. into a sort of cadenza mode in the com- His withdrawal into his inner world is pany of clarinet and strings. clear from the string theme of the first The second movement begins with an movement. The polyphonic tension dis- incisive Allegretto, but the flute has a more cernible deep in the bass and the grey complex tale to tell. The Adagio section middle register builds up to harrowing for- is heartrendingly poetic. The sense of key tissimos. Shostakovich hints at his search seems to waver at the dramatic climax, for identity by borrowing a motif from but after the cadenza, the themes of the his setting of Pushkin What is my name?, Allegretto return with comic nuances. To Op. 91/2. some earthy reminders from the trom- The clarinet marks the entry of the main bone, the closing march leads the concer- theme, a solitary flute the second. After to to a happy ending. merciless development and crushing out- bursts, the music retreats into a coda in which a piccolo twitters a lonely tune. József Hárs The pounding rhythms of the Scherzo concentrate on creating a hellish din, and Hungarian József Hárs studied orchest- even the Trio section sounds as if it is flee- ral conducting first privately with Edgar ing for its life. As the main section returns, Seipenbusch in Innsbruck and later at the rhythms pile up in a polyphonic night- the Sibelius Academy in the class of Leif mare. The movement ends with a military Segerstam and Atso Almila. He has con- war cry. The memoir edited by Solomon ducted such Finnish orchestras as the Volkov describes the Scherzo as a por- Radio Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, trait of Stalin, though many Shostakovich Tapiola Sinfonietta, Pori Sinfonietta and scholars have denied this. It is neverthe- Oulu Symphony. less possible to distinguish the faceless re- Hárs began his musical career with the gime of terror that once prevailed. French horn, his teachers including Ifor The main theme of the slow move- James, Bruno Schneider and Marie-Luise ment plods along before giving way to Neunecker in Germany. His first job was a more devil-may-care waltz in which with the Orchestra of the Finnish National Shostakovich’s signature motif D-E flat- Opera, after which he led the French C-B (alias DSCH) makes its first appear- horns in the Tirol Symphony Orchestra in ance. This can well be taken as an answer Innsbruck. He joined the FRSO in 2006 to the question posed in the first move- and was appointed its Solo French Horn ment by the Pushkin song. Any tendency four years later. 3 towards high spirits is rejected by touches of sentiment and hints of calm, with a Yuki Koyama French horn shedding a ray of hope in between. Finally, the waltz episode triggers Yuki Koyama started to play the flu- a passage that closes with a fading main te when he was six years old, when his theme and the motto motif. teacher was Megumi Horii. He has reaped The finale begins with a meditative success in many competitions, took the Andante and the Allegro does not really first prize at the 7th Biwako International get under way until the woodwinds have Flute Competition and the 73rd Music each in turn sought a suitable motif. The Competition of Japan, and in 2004 was optimism of the closing movement is not the winner of the Kobe International Flute as unclouded as it may seem, and there Competition. will be touches of humour, Angst and the Yuki Koyama has given recitals in various demonic before the movement draws to parts of Japan and worked with many of a heroic conclusion. his country’s orchestras, such as the NHK Symphony, New Japan Philharmonic, Programme notes by Antti Häyrynen Japan Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic translated (abridged) by Susan Sinisalo and Osaka Symphony. He has been 1. solo flute in the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra since autumn 2014. In 2017– 2018 Koyama was a professor in Seoul University. At the moment he teaches at the Sibelius-Academy. The Finnish The FRSO has recorded works by Mahler, Bartók, Sibelius, Hakola, Radio Symphony Lindberg, Saariaho, Sallinen, Kaipainen, Orchestra Kokkonen and others. It has twice won a Gramophone Award: for its disc of The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra Lindberg’s Clarinet Concerto in 2006 (FRSO) is the orchestra of the Finnish and of Bartók Violin Concertos in 2018. Broadcasting Company (Yle). Its mission Other distinctions have included BBC is to produce and promote Finnish musical Music Magazine, Académie Charles Cros culture and its Chief Conductor as of au- and MIDEM Classical awards. Its disc of tumn 2013 has been Hannu Lintu. tone poems and songs by Sibelius won The Radio Orchestra of ten players an International Classical Music Award founded in 1927 grew to symphony or- (ICMA) in 2018, and it has been the re- chestra proportions in the 1960s. Its Chief cipient of a Finnish EMMA award in 2016 Conductors have been Toivo Haapanen, and 2019. Nils-Eric Fougstedt, Paavo Berglund, The FRSO regularly tours to all parts of Okko Kamu, Leif Segerstam, Jukka-Pekka the world. During the 2019/2020 season Saraste and Sakari Oramo, and taking its schedule will include tours to Central over from Hannu Lintu in 2021 will be Europe and Japan under Hannu Lintu. 4 Nicholas Collon. The FRSO concerts are broadcast live on In addition to the great Classical- the Yle Areena and Radio 1 channels and Romantic masterpieces, the latest con- are recorded and shown later on Yle Teema temporary music is a major item in the and TV1. repertoire of the FRSO, which each year premieres a number of Yle commissions. Another of the orchestra’s tasks is to re- cord all Finnish orchestral music for the Yle archive. During the 2019/2020 season, the FRSO will premiere four works com- missioned by Yle. Also on the programme are a large-scale collaboration between Yle and the Helsinki Festival: Schumann’s Scenes from Goethe’s Faust. The symphonies and concertos of Dmitri Shostakovich will occupy special status during the season, while the RSO Festival now to be held for the second time will feature new and large-scale works by Magnus Lindberg. Among the visiting conductors will be Esa-Pekka Salonen, Herbert Blomstedt, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Sakari Oramo, and a host of young Finnish artists will make their debut as FRSO soloists..

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