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Home , Hannu Lintu, Karita Mattila

7.9. WEDNESDAY SERIES 1 Helsinki Music Centre at 19.00

Hannu Lintu, kapellimestari Karita Mattila, soprano (Sieglinde) Simon O’Neill, tenor (Siegmund) Mika Kares, bass (Hunding)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 36, 26 min K 425 “Linz”

I Adagio – Allegro spiritoso II Andante III Minuet – Trio IV Presto

INTERVAL 20 min

Richard Wagner: Die Walküre, Act I 68 min

Interval at about 19.35. The concert ends at about 21.20.

1 WOLFGANG AMADEUS a Haydnish catchiness combines with the singing elegance associated with MOZART (1756–1791): Mozart and at times a subtle wavering SYMPHONY NO. 36 on the borders of light and shade. The development is dominated by a single In summer 1783, Mozart and his wife motif, expressively passed from one in- Constanze travelled to Salzburg to strument to another. visit his father, Leopold. On their way back to Vienna, they stopped for a few days in Linz, where Mozart once again (1813–1883): demonstrated his astounding speed as a composer. For on October 31 he DIE WALKÜRE, ACT I wrote to his father, “When we reached the gates of the city, we found a serv- When in 1848, Europe’s “crazy year”, ant waiting there to drive us to Count Richard Wagner began sketching the li- Thun’s, at whose house we are now bretto for an called Siegfrieds Tod, staying. I really cannot tell you what he could almost certainly not have real- kindnesses the family is showering on ised he was embarking on a mammoth us. On Tuesday, November 4, there will undertaking that would keep him oc- be a concert in the theatre here and, as cupied for the next 26 years. The text I have not a single symphony with me, began snowballing backwards, because I am writing a new one at breakneck he really needed to fill in the back- speed.” ground to Siegfried’s death with Der This symphony, written “at breakneck junge Siegfried (The Young Siegfried) speed”, which probably meant in four outlining the hero’s earlier life. This led or five days, is nowadays known as the to yet another two : Die Walküre, “Linz”. The Allegro section of the first leading up to the hero’s birth, and Das movement is sunny, spirited and splen- Rheingold, setting the scene for the did, though the development, concen- whole chain of events. trating on the second theme, is more The four operas that make up The restrained than in, say, the “Prague” Ring of the Nibelungen, known for short symphony, the “Great G Minor” or the as The Ring, constitute a cycle of epic “Jupiter”. For the first time in a Classical proportions. Within this structure, Die symphony, there are trumpets and tim- Walküre sets the drama in motion. pani in the slow movement as well as Wagner described Das Rheingold that the others. It is in fact a more than preceded it as “a preliminary evening”. usually weighty movement, in places The name, in English The Valkyrie, re- rugged and serious and at others mov- fers to the daughters of the god ingly profound. The minuet has the air Wotan who fetch fallen heroes home of a formal court dance, but the mood from the battlefield, and in its singu- of the Trio, in the nature of a country lar form applies specifically to the best- Ländler, is more pastoral. In the finale, known daughter, Brünnhilde. Act I of

2 Die Walküre is, however, peopled by hu- and as the third scene proceeds, the mans, even though the brother and sis- music is fired with the sensual ecstasy ter Sieglinde (soprano) and Siegmund of love, in novel melodies and chromat- (tenor) are actually of semi-divine ori- ic harmonies. In writing this, Wagner gin, being children begotten by Wotan created a genre for another portrayal with a human. Only Hunding (bass), of forbidden love, the opera waiting a Sieglinde’s husband, is an ordinary few years off in the future: Tristan and mortal. Isolde. The Ring tetralogy incorporates Wagner’s novel ideals for what a mu- Programme notes by Kimmo Korhonen sic drama should be. In Die Walküre, he translated (abridged) by Susan Sinisalo finally achieved the synthesis of music and poetry he was aiming at, enhanc- ing and enriching the meanings with sometimes the tiniest of details in his HANNU LINTU melodies, harmonies and orchestra- tions. The score of Die Walküre again Hannu Lintu took over as Chief includes the noble-sounding Wagner Conductor of the Finnish Radio tubas (which despite their name are Symphony Orchestra in August 2013, actually closer to French horns) he had thus continuing his long collaboration had developed for The Ring. with the orchestra. Amid all the struggles for power in Formerly Artistic Director of the The Ring, Act I of Die Walküre is above Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra and all a great love scene. All in all, human Chief Conductor of the Helsingborg emotions are more in evidence in Die Symphony Orchestra, Hannu Lintu has Walküre than in the other three operas also been Principal Guest Conductor of in the cycle. Act I of Die Walküre is di- the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra vided into three clearly marked scenes: in Dublin. He works regularly with the in the first, Sieglinde and Siegmund Avanti! Chamber Orchestra and was meet, in the second, Hunding arrives, Artistic Director of its Summer Sounds bringing with him an element of con- festival in 2005. flict, and in the third, Siegmund is mo- Outside , Maestro Lintu mentarily alone for a moment before has guest conducted the London his longing is quenched with the return Philharmonia, the BBC Scottish, of Sieglinde. Cleveland, Houston, Minnesota, The Act begins with a mighty tem- Detroit and St. Louis Symphonies, the pest, but with the entry of the solo- Leipzig and Cologne Radio Symphony ists the music shifts to a psychological Orchestras, the Lyon National plane and reflects the inner feelings of Orchestra and many others. the main characters, above all Sieglinde Hannu Lintu has released many and Siegmund. The description of how discs on the , Naxos, Avie and their love is born is lyrical and warm, Hyperion labels. Many of the discs fea-

3 turing him as the conductor have won directed by Jürgen Flimm. One awards both at home and abroad, and of the many major contemporary pre- his premiere recording of the opera mieres in which she has sung is Kaija The Mine by Einojuhani Rautavaara Saariaho’s Émilie in Lyon in 2010. was nominated for a Grammy. With Engagements during the present the FRSO he has recorded works by season include Jenůfa at the Met and Fagerlund, Berio, Messiaen and others. Ariadne at the Bavarian State Opera. The disc of the violin concerto and or- She will be giving solo recitals at the chestral works by György Ligeti (2013) Wigmore Hall, the was Gramophone’s Editor’s Choice in and in Geneva, and be the soloist with February 2014. the Radio Symphony Orchestras of Hannu Lintu studied the piano and France and Cologne. Together with cello first at the Conservatory Jonas Kaufmann (tenor), she will also be in his native Finland and later the singing Act I of Die Walküre in London, , where he also at- with the London Symphony Orchestra tended the conducting class taught conducted by Antonio Pappano. by , Atso Almila, Among the works in Karita Mattila’s and Ilja Musin. He has further been tu- discography are ’s Four tored by, among others, Myung Whun Last Songs under Claudio Abbado, Chung at the Music Academy Siena. In and Schönberg’s Gurrelieder and 1994 he was the winner of the Nordic Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 14 with Conducting Competition. Sir Simon Rattle. The recording of the complete Ring cycle with Sir Georg Solti and of Janáček’s Jenůfa with KARITA MATTILA Bernard Haitink were both awarded a Grammy. Karita Mattila is one of today’s most Winner of the BBC Singer of the exciting lyric dramatic sopranos, recog- World title in 1983, Karita Mattila was nised as much for the beauty and ver- voted Musical America’s Musician satility of her dramatic soprano voice as of the Year in 2005 and in 2003 she for her extraordinary stage ability. She was awarded France’s highest cultural has starred in such major operatic roles honour, the Chevalier des Arts et des as Puccini’s , Janáček’s Jenůfa, Elsa Lettres. in Wagner’s , Donna Anna in Mozart’s , Rosalinde in Johannes Strauss’s and SIMON O’NEILL as Richard Strauss’s , in the pro- duction of directed by Luc A native of New Zealand, Simon O’Neill Bondy and in Lev Dodin’s direction of has established himself as one of the Elektra. She did finest Helden-tenors on the inter- with Peter Stein in Salzburg and at national stage. He regularly sings at the New York Metropolitan sang in the the world’s leading opera houses and

4 has collaborated with many of the Also a regular concert soloist, Mika great maestros, such as James Levine, Kares has sung in such masterpiec- Riccardo Muti, Valery Gergiev, Daniel es as the Mozart and Verdi Requiems, Barenboim and Sir Simon Rattle. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Highly acclaimed for his performances Haydn’s The Creation. A major item as Siegmund in Die Walküre at Covent in his Lied repertoire is Schubert’s Garden, La Scala, Milan and the Berlin Winterreise. State Opera, he has sung in Lohengrin Kares’s most recent recording, and Parsifal at the Bayreuth Festival as Daland in Wagner’s The Flying and in Berg’s Wozzeck at the New Dutchman, was nominated for a York Metropolitan. Other roles in his Gramophone Award. Das Opernwelt repertoire include Rodolfo in Puccini’s voted it Record of the Month and La bohème, Florestan in Beethoven’s the magazine Diapason awarded it its Fidelio and the title role in Mozart’s Diapason d’Or. This autumn, Sonny Idomeneo. This season he can be heard Classical is releasing a recording of in a concert performance of Act I of Die Mozart’s Don Giovanni in which Kares Walküre with the , sings the Commendatore. in Janáček’s Katya Kabanová at the Berlin State Opera and in Wagner’s Götterdämmerung at Houston Opera. THE FINNISH His discography includes operas by RADIO SYMPHONY Wagner, Verdi and Mozart, Mahler’s 8th and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. ORCHESTRA

The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra MIKA KARES (FRSO) is the orchestra of the Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle). Its mis- Mika Kares is known especially for his sion is to produce and promote Finnish renderings of Verdi, Wagner and Mozart. musical culture and its Chief Conductor Having been a member of the solo en- as of autumn 2013 has been Hannu semble of the Badisches Staatstheater Lintu. The FRSO has two Honorary 2005–2010, he then went freelance and Conductors: Jukka-Pekka Saraste and has performed with such conductors . as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Lorin Maazel, The Radio Orchestra of ten play- Zubin Mehta and Marc Minkowski. ers founded in 1927 grew to sympho- Forthcoming engagements include the ny orchestra strength in the 1960s. part of Sarastro in the Covent Garden Hannu Lintu was preceded as Chief production of The Magic Flute, Gremin Conductor by Toivo Haapanen, Nils- in at the Vienna State Eric Fougstedt, , Okko Opera and Filippo in Don Carlos at the Kamu, Leif Segerstam, Jukka-Pekka Semperoper Dresden. Saraste and Sakari Oramo.

5 In addition to the great Classical- The FRSO regularly tours to all parts Romantic masterpieces, the latest con- of the world. During the 2016/2017 temporary music is a major item in the season its schedule will include a tour repertoire of the FRSO, which each in Finland, taking in concerts conduct- year premieres a number of Yle com- ed by Hannu Lintu in Suomussalmi, missions. Another of the orchestra’s Kajaani, Mikkeli and Kuopio. tasks is to record all Finnish orchestral The home channel of the FRSO is Yle music for the Yle archive. Radio 1, which broadcasts all its con- uring the 2016/2017 season the certs, usually live, both in Finland and FRSO will premiere five Finnish works abroad. Its concerts can also be heard commissioned by Yle and feature and watched with excellent live stream such pioneers of Finnish Modernism quality on the FRSO website (www.yle. as Väinö Raitio and Uuno Klami. The fi/rso), and the majority of them are programme will also include orches- televised live on the Yle Teema chan- tral works by Stravinsky, symphonies nel. by Mahler and Bruckner, Haydn’s The Seasons oratorio and concertos by con- temporary composers. Among its guest artists will be soprano Karita Mattila and mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung, conductors Esa-Pekka Salonen, Teodor Currentzis and Gustavo Gimeno, and pianist Daniil Trifonov. The FRSO has recorded works by Mahler, Ligeti, Sibelius, Hakola, Lindberg, Saariaho, Sallinen, Kaipainen, Kokkonen and others, and the de- but disc of the opera Aslak Hetta by Armas Launis. Its discs have reaped some prestigious distinctions, such as the BBC Music Magazine Award, the Académie Charles Cros Award and a MIDEM Classical Award. The disc of Sibelius’s Lemminkäinen and Pohjola’s Daughter was Gramophone magazine’s Critic’s Choice in December 2015 and brought the FRSO and Hannu Lintu a Finnish Emma award in the Classical Album category. Music by Sibelius, Prokofiev and Fagerlund will be among the repertoire recorded during the 2016/2017 season.

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