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Home , Kullervo (Sallinen), Soile Isokoski, The Horseman (opera)

14 SEPTEMBER at 19.00

Hannu Lintu, conductor Soile Isokoski, Lilli Paasikivi, mezzo-soprano Sergei Semishkur, Matti Salminen, The Helsinki Music Centre Choir, coach Tapani Länsiö

Giuseppe Verdi: Requiem 85 min

I Requiem aeternam – Kyrie eleison

II Dies irae Dies Irae Tuba mirum Liber scriptus Quid sum miser Rex tremendae Recordare Ingemisco Confutatis Lacrimosa

III Offertorio IV Sanctus V Agnus Dei VI Lux aeterna VII Libera me

No interval. The concert ends at about 20.35.

Broadcast live on Yle Radio 1, Yle Teema and the Internet (yle.fi/klassinen).

1 (1813– ras, and many of the details sound fa- miliar. Verdi did, however, make a clear 1901): REQUIEM distinction between and the Requiem, noting that phrasing that was Verdi completed his Requiem in April fine in a theatre would not be fitting in 1874 and conducted the premiere at a religious context. St. Mark’s Church, Milan on May 22. Three days later it was performed at the city’s opera house, , where, A multi-mood masterpiece unlike at the premiere, the audience was able to show its appreciation. The The Verdi Requiem is a work cast on Requiem was not, however, heard in its a grand scale. Divided into seven sec- final form until the following year, by tions, it lasts one-and-a-half hours in which time Verdi had exchanged the performance. Verdi immersed himself original choral fugue in the Liber scrip- more deeply in the details of the text tur movement for a moving mezzo-so- than other Requiem composers, and prano solo. with greater descriptive force. He drew on the whole range of expressive devic- es, revealing seldom-heard aspects of “An opera clothed in himself as a composer. Only rarely do ecclesiastical garb” his find a use for imitative coun- terpoint, but the Sanctus and Libera me On the whole, the Requiem got a jubi- movements of the Requiem prove that lant reception and was soon being per- he was also a master of the fugue. formed abroad. Some, however, were The opening movement, breathing not so enamoured with it, and oth- calmly, is a prayer that the dead may ers questioned the right of Verdi, a find eternal peace and serves as a gen- known agnostic, to compose a religious tle introduction to the Requiem world. mass. The Church further disapproved The choir’s picturesque Requiem leads of the use of female voices, as this to a Kyrie sung by the four soloists and went against the practice of contem- choir. porary Italian church music. Although The biggest section, and the musi- the Requiem was first performed in a cal-dramatic focus of the whole work, church, Verdi did not really intend it for is the Dies irae sequence that begins liturgical use, and it is nowadays heard with a shattering outburst. The open- mainly in concert halls. ing theme, evoking the day of wrath, The mood of the music – dramatic will be heard again later, not only in and often genuinely sentimental – also the Dies irae sequence itself but also made people sceptical. Some claimed in the Liber scriptus, the Confutatis and that it was too “operatic”. This claim the closing Libera me. Mighty effects is understandable in that the music are also called up in the Tuba mirum, does have affinities with Verdi’s ope- with extra off-stage trumpets, and in

2 the massive vocal climaxes of the Rex Well yes, actually, I hope so. I want to tremendae. The Dies irae sequence is perform some major choral work in the not, however, one of blood and thun- standard repertoire at the beginning of der only, for it also has some moments each season. Not many have been per- of contemplation, such as the trio Quid formed by the Helsinki orchestras in sum miser for soprano, mezzo and recent years. It’s ages since the FRSO tenor, the Recordare for soprano and last did Verdi’s Requiem. Now, with the mezzo, and the stunningly beautiful forming of the Helsinki Music Centre Lacrimosa. The last of these is one of Choir, we will I hope have a first-class the most moving sections of the whole instrument for performing works like work, and one adapted by Verdi from a this. duet once intended for his opera Don Quite a lot of conductors, myself in- Carlos but later rejected. cluded, have a sort of mania – we love From the serene Offertorio onwards these great, noisy choral works, big the mood becomes more hopeful. The crowds and costly set-ups. And what’s Sanctus erupts with a dazzling eight- more, we managed to get an unusual- part fugue scored for a double cho- ly fine band of soloists for this perfor- rus, the Agnus Dei is a meditative mo- mance of the Requiem. ment of calm for soprano, mezzo and choir beginning with music evocative What is it that appeals to you in Verdi’s of Gregorian chant, and the Lux aeter- Requiem? na is a peaceful trio for soprano, mezzo and bass. Shadows of doubt still flicker I’ve always been fascinated by the very in the closing Libera me, and especially special link between piety and music its Dies irae reminder, but after an im- in this work. Could the fact that Verdi pressive build-up the animated fugue was Italian partly explain the lack of se- reaches a state of equilibrium in the fi- riousness and grovelling so typical of nal bars. Protestant church music? We may, on the other hand, ask whether Catholics Kimmo Korhonen (abridged) need to approach their god with trum- pets and trombones and opera singers if they want to be sure their voice will HANNU LINTU reach up to heaven. This work has a lot in common with a Roman Catholic cat- Hannu Lintu, you began the season and hedral – decorativeness, massiveness your term as Chief Conductor last week and theatricality are somehow intrinsic with the premiere performance of a work qualities. commissioned by the FRSO, saying that Verdi’s Requiem has been called an you intend to make this a regular prac- opera clothed in ecclesiastical garb. tice. Is this week, too, the start of a more This may seem true if you compare lasting practice? it with the Requiems of, say, Mozart or Fauré. Verdi’s does of course have

3 more dramatic gestures and is more comes over best in the balanced acous- episodic, but if you regard this as op- tics of a concert hall, without detract- eratic, you end up on the wrong track. ing from the piety of the work. The fact that Verdi’s Requiem speaks to Due to its hybrid nature, Verdi’s people – those who are not religious as Requiem was undoubtedly a new and well – springs precisely from the dra- strange experience in its day. By that matic and expressive nature of the mu- time, of course, Berlioz had already sic. produced his baffling Requiem and Te Aïda had been completed only three Deum, but the golden age of the gi- years earlier, and all the soloists in the ant battery of performers was only just first performance of the Requiem had coming in. sung in the premiere of Aïda. Mezzo- soprano Maria Waldmann, who had Lotta Emanuelsson sung Amneris, made such a great im- pression on Verdi that he later made www.hannulintu.fi the mezzo part in the Requiem even bigger. And in other respects, too, he would appear to have had in mind dra- SOILE ISOKOSKI matic voice types such as those re- quired for Aïda, Amneris, Radamès and A regular guest at the most illustrio- Ramfis. us opera and concert venues, Soile For me, it’s wonderful to bring the Isokoski is one of the most sought-af- Requiem into a concert hall. In Italy in ter in the world today. Verdi’s day, performing it in a church At the Finnish National Opera Soile – the domain of boy sopranos, castrati Isokoski made her debut as Mimi in La and countertenors – was difficult be- bohème and has since sung to great cause it needs female singers. It was acclaim at the Vienna, Hamburg, Berlin first performed in St Mark’s Church, and Bavarian State Operas, La Scala, Milan in May 1874, but only with a the Opéra Bastille, Covent Garden and special dispensation. The next perfor- the New York Metropolitan. She is also mance a few days later was at La Scala, a regular guest at many international and from then onwards it remained festivals and has worked with a host of rooted for a long time in concert halls. celebrated conductors. This may be another reason why it Soile Isokoski has a large concert rep- gained more of a reputation as an op- ertoire and has held numerous re- era than as a mass. To my mind the citals all over the world. With Marita Requiem is well suited to a concert hall, Viitasalo she has recorded works by because logistically it’s so demanding. many Finnish and Scandinavian com- We now have a big platform at our dis- posers, by Schubert, Schumann and posal and don’t need to squash the per- . She has been the re- formers somewhere between the pulpit cipient of a Gramophone Editor’s Choice and the altar. And the musical texture Award, a MIDEM Classical Award and a

4 BBC Music Magazine Disc of the Year among others, the Los Angeles and Award. Berlin Philharmonics and the London For her merits as an artist and her ser- and Sydney Symphonies. vices to Finnish music Soile Isokoski was Among the items in Lilli Paasikivi’s awarded the prestigious Pro Finlandia discography are Beethoven’s 9th Medal in 2002. She received Finland’s Symphony with the Leipzig Gewandhaus State Prize for Music in 2005 and was Orchestra, Mahler’s 3rd Symphony with honoured with the title of Austrian the Philharmonia and 8th Symphony Kammersängerin in 2008. In 2011 she with the London Symphony. received an Honorary Doctorate from In August 2013 Lilli Paasikivi began as the University of Helsinki. Artistic Director of the Finnish National Engagements in the 2013/2014 sea- Opera. She is also Artistic Director of son include appearances in Dresden, the Pyhäniemi Manor concert series. Berlin, Munich, Paris and London.

SERGEI SEMISHKUR LILLI PAASIKIVI Born in Kirov in Russia, Sergei Semishkur Lilli Paasikivi is a frequent guest at the graduated from the Nizhny-Novgorod world’s leading opera houses, concert State Glinka Conservatoire in 2003 and halls and music festivals. Since her de- has been a soloist with the Mariinsky but in Wagner’s Ring with Sir Simon Opera Company since 2007. His opera Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic at engagements have taken him to the the Aix-en-Provence Festival, Wagner , the operas in Warsaw roles have become central to her work and Israel, the on stage. and the Savonlinna Opera Festival. This season her engagements in- On the concert platform, Sergei clude Sibelius’s at the Berlin Semishkur has sung in such works as Konzerthaus, Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder the Berlioz, Mozart, Verdi and Webber with the Malmö Symphony Orchestra Requiems, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and the Bordeaux National Orchestra and Mahler’s 8th. He has appeared at and Das Lied von der Erde with the Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, and Barbican and the Edinburgh Festival, Prokofiev’s Ivan the Terrible with the and he has a close relationship with Philharmonia Orchestra. the City of Birmingham Symphony At the Finnish National Opera, Lilli Orchestra, the London Symphony, the Paasikivi’s assignments have included Choir and Orchestra of the Mariinsky the title role in , Amneris in Theatre and the Munich Philharmonic. Aïda, Genevieve in Pelléas et Mélisande Highlights of last season included the and Waltraute in Götterdämmerung. part of Alfredo in La traviata in Monte She has appeared widely in Mahler Carlo, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly symphonies and song cycles with, at the National Opera in Oman, the ti-

5 tle role in Benvenuto Cellini in Paris and name to support talented young sing- Dvořák’s Requiem with the Orchestre ers. de Paris. Sergei Semishkur has record- ed extensively on the Mariinsky la- THE HELSINKI MUSIC bel: Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex, CENTRE CHOIR Shostakovich’s The Nose, Berlioz’s Requiem, Wagner’s Das Rheingold and Founded in autumn 2011, the Helsinki Mahler’s 8th Symphony, to mention Music Centre Choir of about 85 sin- just a few of the items. gers can, as required, regroup as a male, female or chamber choir. It works in close partnership with the main MATTI SALMINEN Helsinki Music Centre occupants: the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Matti Salminen ranks as one of the the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra greatest basses in the world today. A and the . Its Artistic member of the solo ensemble of the Director has from the very beginning 1972–1980, he has been been composer Tapani Länsiö and the at the Zurich Opera since 1984. Guest members are amateurs with a passion performances have taken him to Berlin, for singing. Munich, Vienna, Barcelona and Helsinki, The HMCC repertoire, planned joint- and to the world’s major opera houses, ly by conductors Hannu Lintu, Jukka- such as the New York Metropolitan and Pekka Saraste and John Storgårds, con- the Opéra national de Paris. sists mainly of symphonic choral and In addition to the operas of Mozart, orchestral works and unaccompanied Wagner and Verdi, Matti Salminen’s music for large choir, not forgetting repertoire encompasses the great bass contemporary music. roles in Russian operas, such as Boris The Choir appears in concert from Godunov and Ivan Khovansky. He has eight to ten times a year, mainly at sung the title roles in ’s the Helsinki Music Centre but also at operas and King Lear, other venues. Fixtures this year include and Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Rasputin, the Organ Night and Aria festival in which was written for him. Espoo and the . Matti Salminen has made numer- The choir’s annual All Saints Day con- ous award-winning discs, including cert of unaccompanied music will this several complete recordings of ope- year be devoted to hymns and begin at ras. Those of Wagner’s Das Rheingold the Helsinki Music Centre at 21.00 on and Götterdämmerung have won him November 2. Grammy awards. Berlin, Bavaria and Austria have honoured him with the ti- tle of Kammersänger. Matti Salminen has set up a foundation bearing his

6 THE FINNISH The FRSO has recorded works by Eötvös, Nielsen, Hakola, Lindberg, RADIO SYMPHONY Saariaho, Sallinen, Kaipainen, Kokkonen ORCHESTRA and others, and the debut disc of the opera Aslak Hetta by Armas Launis. Its The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra discs have reaped some major distinc- (FRSO) is the orchestra of the Finnish tions, such as the BBC Music Magazine Broadcasting Company (Yle). Its missi- Award and the Académie Charles Cros on is to produce and promote Finnish Award. The disc of the Sibelius and musical culture and its Chief Conductor Lindberg violin concertos (Sony BMG) as of autumn 2013 is Hannu Lintu. with Lisa Batiashvili as the soloist re- The Radio Orchestra of ten players ceived the MIDEM Classical Award founded in 1927 grew to symphony or- in 2008, in which year the New York chestra strength in the 1960s. Its pre- Times chose the other Lindberg disc as vious Chief Conductors have been its Record of the Year. Toivo Haapanen, Nils-Eric Fougstedt, The FRSO regularly tours to all parts Paavo Berglund, , Leif of the world. During the 2013/2014 Segerstam, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and season it will be visiting Central Europe . The FRSO has two under the baton of Hannu Lintu. Honorary Conductors: Jukka-Pekka All the FRSO concerts both in Finland Saraste and Sakari Oramo. and abroad are broadcast, usually live, The latest contemporary music is on Yle Radio 1. They can also be heard a major item in the repertoire of the and watched with excellent stream FRSO, which each year premieres a quality on yle.fi/klassinen. number of Yle commissions. Another of the orchestra’s tasks is to record all Finnish orchestral music for the Yle ar- chive. During the 2013/2014 season it will premiere six Finnish works commis- sioned by Yle.

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