Johannes Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 15 50 Min I Maestoso II Adagio III Rondo (Allegro Non Troppo)

Sakari Oramo, conductor Sunwook Kim, piano Johannes Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 15 50 min I Maestoso II Adagio III Rondo (Allegro non troppo) INTERVAL 20 min Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73 46 min I Allegro non troppo II Adagio non troppo – L’istesso tempo, ma grazioso III Allegretto grazioso (quasi andantino) – Presto ma non assai – Tempo 1 IV Allegro con spirito PRE-CONCERT TALK (in Finnish) in the foyer restaurant from 6 to 6.30 pm: Ville Matvejeff: Johannes Brahms in close-up. Admission free. Interval at about 8 pm. The concert ends at about 9.15 pm. Broadcast live on YLE Radio 1 and the Internet (www.yle.fi/rso). 1 Johannes Brahms (1833–1897): Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 15 (1858) Composing was hard work for Brahms. Progress In the final Rondo Brahms comes closer to was slow and arduous, and he often decided on Beethoven, especially the finale of Beethoven’s completing a work that it did not withstand his Piano Concerto No. 3. Despite the fleeting rays of merciless self-criticism and rejected it. Some- sunlight, the overall mood of the finale is strict- how he did not think in instrumental terms. He ly Baroque-like with extensive fugues. created abstract music and spent a lot of time The soloist in the premiere performance in finding the best instruments for it. The Piano 1859 was Brahms himself and the Hanover Or- Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 15 began life as chestra was conducted by his friend Joseph a sonata for two pianos, but this soon seemed Joachim. Contemporary critics did not give to Brahms to be a symphony in disguise and he the concerto an easy time. For audiences in the orchestrated it as a symphony. Still, he did not mid-19th century expected to be entertained feel he was getting anywhere and he was 43 be- with displays of virtuosity and show, whereas fore he finally approved it as his Symphony No. Brahms offered them a spiritual contest that 1. Meanwhile he used sketches for the sympho- was described by one critic as bleak and bare. ny to create a piano concerto. But even then it The audience were confused, as the new work took four years for the music to arrive at its fi- seemed to be more in the nature of a sympho- nal scoring. ny with piano obligato rather than a piano con- The first movement of the concerto is char- certo. As indeed it is. acterised by a fierce inner struggle. The Adagio has been regarded as a memorial to Schumann. Lotta Emanuelsson (abridged) Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D Major, op. 73 (1877) His self-criticism and the example set by often demanded to hear it played again. Beethoven had such a crushing effect on The symphony is indeed Brahms’s sunniest Brahms that for years he kept his distance from and most unconstrained; it is his “Pastoral Sym- the symphony. When at last, in 1876, he fin- phony”. Its optimism and unproblematic nature ished his first symphony after a struggle lasting have, however, often been exaggerated, for the a couple of decades, he was 43 years old and an first two movements, especially, also have a acclaimed master of many other genres. There- darker undercurrent. after, his three other symphonies followed in The beginning of the first movement is one relatively quick succession. of the most tranquil in all symphonic literature, Brahms composed most of his Symphony No. but the development section acquires deeper 2 in summer 1877, while staying at Pörtschach and even elegiac tones. In the recapitulation on the shores of Lake Wörth. “The lake is a vir- Brahms weaves together the beginning and gin place, where the melodies just fly around,” the end of the main theme, thus contributing he enthused to a friend. The premiere of the new ideas to the symphonic process. The finale symphony at a concert by the Vienna Philhar- grows from its initial subdued mood to radiant monic conducted by Hans Richter in December splendour and has the most jubilant ending of 1877 got a triumphant reception that was re- all the Brahms symphonies. peated at the following performances. Audienc- es particularly liked the third movement, and Kimmo Korhonen (abridged) 2 3 Sakari Oramo Sakari Oramo has been Chief Conductor of the appeared at the BBC Proms, the Canary Is- Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra since Au- lands, Edinburgh and Bergen Festivals. In Oc- gust 2003. An accomplished violinist, he began tober 2005 he took the orchestra on tour to Ja- his career as co-leader of the orchestra in 1991 pan and was immediately invited back for Feb- and went on to obtain a conducting diploma in ruary 2007. the class of Jorma Panula at the Sibelius Acad- The FRSO and Oramo have recorded music emy. In January 1993 he replaced an ailing con- (for Ondine) by such Finnish composers as Ha- ductor at very short notice; the resulting con- kola, Klami, Mielck, Pingoud and Kaipainen, cert was an unprecedented success, leading to and the debut release of Launis’s opera Aslak his appointment as Associate Chief Conductor Hetta. His disc of works by Magnus Lindberg, as of autumn 1994. and the Bartók disc by Warner Classics have In spring 2008 Oramo resigned from his received great international acclaim. His disc 10-year term as Music Director of the City of (Ondine) of Symphonies 3 and 5 by Nordgren Birmingham Symphony Orchestra but contin- won the French Académie Charles Cros award, ues as the orchestra’s Principal Guest Conduc- while the recording by Mr Oramo, the FRSO tor. In autumn 2008 he took over as Chief Con- and Lisa Batiashvili of the Violin Concertos by ductor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Magnus Lindberg and Jean Sibelius was hon- Orchestra. He is also Principal Guest Conduc- oured with a MIDEM Classical Award in 2008. tor of the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra The most recent distinction came from the and of Kokkola Opera in Finland. New York Times, which chose the FRSO’s disc Mr Oramo has conducted many of the of works for orchestra by Magnus Lindberg as world’s leading orchestras, such as the Berlin, Record of the Year 2008. New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Oslo Phil- Sakari Oramo received an Honorary Doc- harmonics, the Orchestre de Paris, the Cleve- torate in summer 2004 from the University land and Minnesota Orchestras, the Concertge- of Central England in Birmingham. In sum- bouw Orchestra, the NHK Symphony and the mer 2008 he was awarded the prestigious El- Frankfurt RSO. The next few years will include gar Medal in recognition of his work to further visits to the Boston and Gothenburg Sympho- the reputation of Elgar and his music, and in ny Orchestras, the Staatskapelle Dresden and 2009 he was honoured with a British OBE for the Orchestre de Paris. In April 2010 he toured his services to music. Europe with the European Chamber Orchestra. With the FRSO Mr Oramo has toured to Vi- enna, Prague, Germany and Switzerland and Sunwook Kim Sunwook Kim came to international recogni- to engagements with some of the world’s fin- tion when he won the prestigious Leeds In- est orchestras as well as recitals throughout Eu- ternational Piano Competition in 2006. He rope. Other major victories have included first was the competition’s youngest winner for 40 prize in the Ettlingen Competition in Germa- years, as well as its first Asian winner, and his ny (2004) and the Clara Haskil Competition in performance for the finals of Brahms’s Con- Switzerland (2005). certo No.1 with Mark Elder attracted unani- During the 2009/10 season Sunwook Kim mous praise from the press, and led to concer- made a highly successful debut in the Philhar- 2 3 monia Orchestra’s subscription series at the Beethovenfest, the Klavier-Festival Ruhr, the Royal Festival Hall in London, conducted by Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festspiele in Ger- Vladimir Ashkenazy. This led to an immedi- many, the Dinard Festival in France and the As- ate re-invitation for 2011/12. Other highlights pen Music Festival in the United States. among future projects include the Rundfunk Born in Seoul in 1988, Sunwook Kim began Sinfonieorchester Berlin (Janowski), the Con- the piano at the age of three. He gave his de- certgebouw Orchestra, the French Radio Sym- but recital aged just ten in the Kumho Prod- phony Orchestra (Chung), the MDR Sinfonie- igy Series in Seoul, followed by his concerto orchester Leipzig (Afkham), the Hallé (Elder), debut two years later. He graduated from the the Bournemouth Symphony (Karabits), and Korean National University of Arts in Febru- a debut recital at the Wigmore Hall in Lon- ary 2008, having been a student of Daejin Kim don. Most recently he made a highly-acclaimed since 1999. debut at the Klara Festival in Brussels, the The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (FRSO), With Sakari Oramo the FRSO has record- the orchestra of the Finnish Broadcasting Com- ed music by Bartók, Hakola, Lindberg, Kaipai- pany (YLE), celebrated its 80th anniversary in nen, Kokkonen and others, and the debut disc autumn 2007. Its Chief Conductor is Sakari of the opera Aslak Hetta by Armas Launis. Its Oramo, who assumed the post in 2003 after discs have won many prestigious distinctions, nine years as its conductor. such as Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine The Radio Orchestra of ten players founded awards. Its most recent honour, a MIDEM Clas- in 1927 grew to a full-size symphony orchestra sical Award, was for the recording of the Lind- in the 1960s.

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