12 JANUARY THURSDAY SERIES 5 Helsinki Music Centre at 7 pm

Sakari Oramo, conductor Jukka Harju, horn József Hárs, horn Markus Maskuniitty, horn Esa Tapani, horn

Magnus Lindberg: Al largo 25 min

Robert Schumann: Konzertstück in F Major for Four Horns and , Op. 86 21 min

I Lebhaft II Romance (Ziemlich langsam, doch nicht schleppend) III Sehr lebhaft

INTERVAL 20 MIN

Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 in A Major, Op. 90, “The Italian” 30 min

I Allegro vivace II Andante con moto III Con moto moderato IV Saltarello (Presto)

Interval at about 7.55 pm. The concert ends at about 9 pm.

1 up and present us with the next, equal- ly dazzling landscape. Structurally, Al lar- (1958–): AL LARGO go falls into two broad sections, “that both begin very vigorously and end as slow mu- The avoidance of anything slow was for a sic”. Dominating the first half are numerous long time a fundamental feature of the mu- brass fanfares that vary in their details, sup- sic of Magnus Lindberg. Even if the tempo ported by a seething brew in the rest of the marking was somewhat on the slow side, orchestra. After a big climax the music sud- the texture would seethe and bubble like denly becomes introspective, borne alone a piping-hot broth and, what is more, with by a delightful string texture. The return of an energy little short of manic. In this res- the fanfares leads to a new build-up and ul- pect it is exciting to hear what awaits in the timately to a mighty solo on which the orchestral work he wrote last year, for as music muses for a good while. Al largo then its title he chose Al largo. This is, after all, proceeds to the second section, the drama- a term usually associated with the slowest tic plot of which is possibly even more enig- marking on the tempo scale. matic than the first, but just as exhilarating. Lindberg says he deliberately chose Al The gradual fade at the end is both pleasing largo as a paradoxical title, but it also has a and surprising. descriptive secondary meaning; this is rare Al largo was commissioned by the New for a man who has concentrated heavily on York Philharmonic, which premiered it with composing absolute music. But as he puts Alan Gilbert conducting in June 2010. It was it: “I have never composed such fast mu- first heard in Europe at Porto in Portugal in sic, yet even so, it is possible to detect in it October and in Finland in December, when an extremely slow undercurrent and kinetic Hannu Lintu conducted it at a concert by the energy, expressively something big and Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra. broad. I decided ages ago to give the piece a contradictory name – nothing that would allude to a quick piece, but rather somet- ROBERT SCHUMANN hing like Adagio or Largo. Then I happened (1810–1856): to be chatting to an Italian friend of mine, Luca Francesconi the composer, and asked KONZERTSTÜCK IN F him what would go with the word ‘largo’. He MAJOR FOR FOUR HORNS suggested the Italian phrase ‘al largo’, which AND ORCHESTRA means being at sea, especially the moment when you reach the open sea, the shore va- Schumann tended to concentrate on one nishes from sight and all that lies before you genre at a time, getting deeply immersed is the ocean.” in whatever was uppermost in his mind at While leaving us listeners somewhat bre- any particular time. In 1849–50­­ he hit on the athless, Al largo also carries us along: one idea of composing a number of concertos moment we are gazing at dazzling landsca- not closely tied to tradition. The best known pes, the next we are cast adrift to be swept of these is that for the cello. More unusu- along by the current until the waves lift us al are the two he titled Konzertstück: Op. 92

2 3 for the and Op. 86 for four horns. The FELIX MENDELSSOHN former is totally unlike a conventional pia- no concerto, while the latter is really a nor- (1809–1847): SYMPHONY mal concerto that just happens to have four NO. 4, “THE ITALIAN” horns as the soloists. One of the members of the Dresden In 1829, the then 20-year-old Felix Court Orchestra at the time was a certain Mendelssohn embarked on a long journey. Joseph-Rudolph Lewy, a player renowned First he headed for England and Scotland, for his poetic horn sound and for promoting then the following year for sunny Italy, and the new valve horn. Revelling in the poten- he did not travel home, via Paris, until au- tial of this new instrument, Schumann im- tumn 1831. The different milieus made a mediately set about composing one of his great impact on the impressionable youth. most inspired works for orchestra. Though In Italy, he was immediately inspired to wri- the medium was new, the Konzertstück in te a new symphony bathed in sunlight and F Major (1849) is incredibly polished. There steeped in carnivalistic atmosphere. But a is nothing cautious about his handling of a change of scenery easily causes a sensitive modern horn ensemble; rather, the concerto young man to forget what he had in mind. is brimming with self-confidence and senti- Thus by the time he finished the sympho- ment. It is, in a word, romantic. ny in March 1833, he was no longer in con- Schumann uses his French horns in a va- tact with the source of his inspiration; he riety of different roles, in solos, duets and all kept getting stuck and was not pleased with four together. He also writes contrapuntally; the result. He completely overhauled the this was something new for French horns. symphony at least twice, and even then he The adventurous drive and the noble sound was not satisfied. The symphony was pre- of the first movement clearly look ahead to miered in various versions, but he never got the Rhenish Symphony of the following year, round to making the final revisions he had and the characteristic horn sound seems promised in his letters and the score was to be even more pronounced than in that not published until 1849, two years after his symphony. Crowning the relatively unruf- death. fled slow movement is the two-horn canon The listener today finds it difficult to imagi- in the middle section that, with its Baroque- ne what is wrong with this jubilant sympho- like precision, nicely challenges the spirit ny so cleverly crafted. The beginning of the of the Romance that follows. The Finale is first movement is one of the most effective heady virtuoso music, full of heroic vigour and surely the sunniest in all orchestral lite- and not without some humorous twists. rature. The air is alive with the thrill of the carnival Mendelssohn had experienced in Italy, and the second theme, though slightly calmer, has just as much zest. Mendelssohn said that the slow movement was inspired by a procession of pilgrims he had watched. This is expressed in the “walking bass” ac- companiment, while the folk-like melody

2 3 above it could allude to something intimate Philharmonics, the Concertgebouw, Paris, and romantic. The third movement is a dan- Cleveland and Minnesota and ce evocative of Schumannian Biedermeier, the Staatskapelle Dresden. His engage- half minuet and half waltz, and not therefo- ments in the 2011/12 season include ap- re a “fairy scherzo” of the kind usually asso- pearances with the German Symphony ciated with Mendelssohn. The Trio section Orchestra Berlin, the Vienna Symphony and could well indicate a sign of homesickness the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra. in the German youth, for the distant fanfa- With the FRSO Mr Oramo has toured res on the French horns and sound to Benin, Vienna, Prague, Germany, Spain veritably Germanic in their southern con- and elsewhere and appeared at the Canary text. The finale, Saltarello, is somewhat akin Islands, Edinburgh and Bergen Festivals and to a tarantella – a wild, whirling Italian dan- the BBC Proms in London. Together they ce that, in its minor-key fury, is ablaze with went on tour to Japan in 2005 and 2007. energy. Sakari Oramo received an Honorary Doctorate in summer 2004 from the Jouni Kaipainen (abridged) University of Central England in Birmingham. In summer 2008 he was awarded the pres- tigious Elgar Medal in recognition of his SAKARI ORAMO work to further the reputation of Elgar and his music, and in 2009 he was hon- Sakari Oramo’s term as Chief Conductor oured with a British OBE for his services to of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra British music. In December 2010 the Finnish (FRSO) began in August 2003. An accom- President awarded him the prestigious Pro plished violinist, he began his career as co- Finlandia medal. leader of the orchestra in 1991 and went on Mr Oramo’s term as Chief Conductor of to obtain a conducting diploma in the class the FRSO ends in spring 2012. He will be of Jorma Panula at the Sibelius Academy. succeeded in autumn 2012 by Hannu Lintu, In addition to the FRSO, Sakari Oramo the orchestra’s eighth Chief Conductor. is Chief Conductor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and conduc- tor of Kokkola Opera in Finland. He reg- JUKKA HARJU ularly also conducts the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra and has been appoint- Jukka Harju (b. 1975) made his solo de- ed its Artistic Director as of autumn 2013. but when he was only 11, in the EBU Young In spring 2008 he resigned from his 10- Soloists competition in Dublin. Beginning year term as Music Director of the City of his studies in Kokkola, he continued with Birmingham Symphony Orchestra but con- Kalervo Kulmala at the Sibelius Academy tinues as the orchestra’s Principal Guest and the University of Music and Performing Conductor. Arts in Vienna. In 2004 he supplemented a Mr Oramo has conducted many of the Master’s degree in music with a degree in world’s leading orchestras, such as the cinema. He has been principal horn in the Berlin, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago FRSO since 2008, first as a deputy and sin-

4 5 ce 2009 as a regular. He has also received MARKUS MASKUNIITTY invitations to lead the horn section in the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra conducted Born in 1967, Markus Maskuniitty took up by Claudio Abbado, the European Union the when he was nine. Following Youth Orchestra, the Radio Orchestras studies in Rauma, Turku, the Helsinki of Sweden and France, the Stockholm Conservatory and the Sibelius Academy, Philharmonic and the celebrated European he became a private pupil of Radovan Chamber Orchestra. A winner of prizes in Vlatkovic in Berlin. He won prizes in the his age category in a number of compe- Nordic Horn Competition in 1989, the inter- titions, he was awarded the title of Brass national Markneukirchen Horn Competition Player of the Year by Lieksa Brass Week in in 1991 and the German ARD Competition 2006 in recognition of his international suc- in 1995, and was Brass Player of the Year cesses. Outside Finland Jukka Harju has in Finland in 1992. Leader of the horn sec- held solo engagements in Sweden, Estonia, tion in the FRSO 1991–93, he was principal Iceland, Italy and Canada. In 2007 he was horn in the DSO Berlin 1994–2007 and the awarded an honourable mention for direc- Berlin Philharmonic 1997–99 and has played ting the best music programme of the year in the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra. In 2008 for YLE TV1/YLE Teema. he began as principal horn in the Stockholm Philharmonic. In addition to his orchest- ral commitments he has made solo and JÓZSEF HÁRS chamber music appearances (with, among others, the Berlin Philharmonic Octet and József Hárs was born in Hungary in 1976, the Stockholm Chamber Brass) and held began playing the French horn when he masterclasses in Japan, South America, was eight and over the years studied with Australia and across Europe. Markus Ifor James, Bruno Schneider and Marie Maskuniitty has premiered the horn concer- Luise Neunecker in Germany. He has been a tos by Harri Wessman and Jukka Linkola. He member of the FRSO since 2006 and princi- was appointed Professor of the French horn pal French horn since January 2010. He has at Hanover University of Music in 2000. also been leader or deputy leader of his sec- tion in the Orchestra of the Finnish National Opera, Nuremberg Opera and the Tyrolean ESA TAPANI Symphony Orchestra in Innsbruck. He has further worked with the Schleswig Holstein Esa Tapani (b. 1968) graduated with distin- Festival Orchestra, the Finnish Chamber ction from the Sibelius Academy in 1994, Orchestra, the Oslo Philharmonic and a having studied with Leena Heikkilä, Timo number of other well-known orchestras. In Ronkainen, Michael Höltzel, Dale Clevenger 2010 he came second in the International and Hermann Baumann. He has been a Holger Fransman Horn Competition in member of the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Lieksa, Finland. Swedish Radio Symphony and the FRSO and since 1986 of the Avanti! Chamber Orchestra specialising in new music. He

4 5 is at present a Professor at the Frankfurt The Radio Orchestra of ten players found- University of Music. In 1989 he was the ed in 1927 grew to symphony orchestra winner of the first prize in the Nordic Horn strength in the 1960s. Its previous Chief Competition. Since then he has been an ac- Conductors have been Toivo Haapanen, tive chamber musician and soloist. With a Nils-Eric Fougstedt, Paavo Berglund, Okko repertoire that takes in all the staple horn Kamu, Leif Segerstam and Jukka-Pekka literature, he has a special interest in con- Saraste. temporary music and has collaborated clo- The latest contemporary music is a ma- sely with many Finnish composers. Live in- jor item in the repertoire of the FRSO, which teraction between composer and performer each year premieres a number of YLE com- is a major feature of his artist profile. He missions. Another of the orchestra’s tasks is also plays period instruments, the natural to record all Finnish orchestral music for the and Baroque horn. Being able to play on an YLE archive. instrument such as that for which the mu- With Sakari Oramo the orchestra has re- sic was written brings the performer clo- corded music by Bartók, Hakola, Saariaho, ser to the composer’s world of sound. Yet Respighi, Kaipainen, Kokkonen and others, the interpretation of music always, he says, and the debut disc of the opera Aslak Hetta springs from the performer’s own personali- by Armas Launis. The FRSO disc (Ondine) ty. Authenticity alone, or trying to carry out of Symphonies 3 & 5 by Nordgren won the the composer’s intentions as closely as pos- Académie Charles Cros Award in 2000, and sible, is not sufficient to create a lively per- that of Magnus Lindberg’s Concerto formance. the BBC Music Magazine Award in 2006. That of the Sibelius and Lindberg Violin Concertos (Sony BMG) with Lisa Batiashvili THE FINNISH RADIO as the soloist received the MIDEM Classical SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Award in 2008, in which year the New York Times chose the other Lindberg disc as its Record of the Year. The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra The FRSO regularly tours to all parts of (FRSO) is the orchestra of the Finnish the world and has so far given over 300 con- Broadcasting Company (YLE). Its mission certs abroad. During the 2011/2012 season is to produce and promote Finnish musi- its foreign engagements include an appear- cal culture. Its Chief Conductor since 2003 ance at the prestigious Beethoven Festival has been Sakari Oramo. The new Chief in Bonn and a concert at the Amsterdam Conductor as of autumn 2013 will be Hannu Concertgebouw. Lintu, following a season (2012/2013) as All the FRSO concerts both in Finland and the orchestra’s Principal Guest Conductor. abroad are broadcast, usually live, on YLE Jukka-Pekka Saraste, now the orchestra’s Radio 1. They can also be heard the world Honorary Conductor, was Chief Conductor over via the Internet (yle.fi/rso). 1987-2001 and still collaborates closely with the orchestra.

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