16.10. at 20:00 Helsinki Music Centre

Kent Nagano conductor piano Lotta Emanuelsson presenter

W. A. Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 22 in E-flat Major KV 482 1 1. Allegro 2. Andante 3. Allegro (Rondo)

Interview with (audio)

Richard Strauss: Metamorphosen for 23 solo strings TrV 290

No interval. The concert will end at about 21:15. Broadcast live on Yle Teema, Yle Radio 1 and Yle Areena. : Piano Concerto No. 22 in E-flat Major KV 482

Piano concerto no. 22 is the most dynamic intricacies keep the ship well on wide-reaching concerto by Wolfgang course. The little clouds so characteristic Amadeus Mozart (1776–1791). Some say of Mozart rise and fall on the horizon but that its key, E-flat major, represented ‘ma- nevertheless leave their mark. jestic’ for him, and in this case the term The second movement (Andante) applies not only to the mood and length makes full use of its richly-nuanced mi- but also to the unusual richness, borne nor-key effects. The piano leads the re- out by his use of clarinets in the orchestra fined string theme through variations that instead of oboes. give the winds an unusually independent The first notes of the opening move- role. The two major-key episodes serve ment are vaguely evocative of the Emperor as a reminder that the music is not con- Concerto by demned to wander for ever through a vale (though the latter would not be composed of tears. The piano trills and high-note fig- for another few decades), but whereas ures in the last variation upset the emo- Beethoven’s soloist swaggers in as a great tional balance, but the little epilogue pro- 2 military leader, Mozart’s is an enlightened vides typical Mozartian consolation. autocrat bursting with self-assurance. The final movement swings into action Following a grand orchestral introduc- with familiar hunting calls, modestly at tion, the soloist clearly takes command. first, but Mozart soon almost drowns the Orchestra and soloist do not altogeth- listener in new themes. Many of the ide- er engage in outspoken dialogue; rather, as are tailored for the winds. Flashbacks they seem to be speaking in veiled tones, to the melodic scene crop up in the re- nostalgically repeating motifs. peat of the rondo episode. A solo caden- The first movement has enough motifs za precedes a recapitulation of the main to fill a whole concerto, but the repeats of theme that ties all the strings together. the orchestra’s opening gesture and the

Richard Strauss: Metamorphosen for 23 solo strings

The composing career of Richard Strauss se, that his life was in ruins and he wis- (1865–1949) coincided with the crest of hed he had died after the premiere of the great upsurge in German culture and his opera Danae. He had begun compo- the nation state in the early 20th century sing a new work in summer 1944, and the – a rise that would brutally end with the following spring enlarged it and called it Second World War. The ageing composer Metamorphosen, a study for 23 solo strin- wrote in 1944, when Goebbels had orde- gs. The title is metaphorical. The idea of red all the country’s opera houses to clo- metamorphosis or rebirth had its origins in Goethe’s poem Widmung (Dedication: sion of richness and beauty, a memory of “Niemand wird sich selber kennen/No one a happiness destroyed by the war. Strauss will know himself”) with which Strauss aims at the eloquence of an ancient Greek was familiar. tragedy, but being a Romantic, he shrouds Goethe was a natural source of inspi- his grief in intoxicating sensuality. The ex- ration for a tripartite elegy dedicated acting technique required of the 23 solo to the culture ravaged by war. Another strings playing together holds the emo- figure hovering in the background of tional pathos in check. Metamorphosen was Beethoven, whose Strauss took his personal leave of life in funeral- march motifs from the Eroica the Four Last Songs of 1948. The perspec- Symphony make a recognisable appear- tive in Metamorphosen is more formal but ance at the end. At that point Strauss just as moving. The rise from resignation wrote in the manuscript the words “In me- to a grief that purifies is a selfless hymn moriam”. to beauty. The masterly string texture of Programme notes by Antti Häyrynen Metamorphosen seeks to create an impres- translated (abridged) by Susan Sinisalo

3 Kent Nagano Till Fellner

Kent Nagano is renowned throughout the Till Fellner’s international career began in world for his varied repertoire and inter- 1993 with victory at the renowned Clara pretations of clarity, elegance and intel- Haskil Competition. Since studying in his ligence. Music Director of the Orchestre native and later with Symphonique de Montréal from 2006 to and others, he has been the soloist with 2020, he has been Generalmusikdirektor numerous celebrated orchestras (such as of the since 2015. the Berlin and New York Philharmonics Born in California, Kent Nagano has and the Chicago Symphony) and colla- been Music Director of the Opéra National borated with many top conductors – de Lyon (1988–1998) and of the Hallé Abbado, Ashkenazy, Dohnányi, Haitink, Orchestra (1992–2000), Chief Conductor Harnoncourt, Nagano and others. He and Artistic Director of the Deutsches has also recorded the fourth and fifth Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (2000– Beethoven piano concertos with Nagano. 2006), Artistic Director and subsequent- Works by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, ly Music Director of Schubert, Schumann and Liszt occupy a (2001–2006) and Music Director of the major position in Fellner’s repertoire, but (2006–2013). He he has also played many 20th-century 4 has also guest conducted most of the classics and contemporary works. He is an world’s top orchestras, such as the Vienna, active chamber musician, his partners in- Berlin and New York Philharmonics and cluding violinists and Lisa the Chicago Symphony. Batiashvili, cellists and Alongside the standard repertoire, Adrian Brendel, tenor Mark Padmore and Nagano enjoys contempo- the Belcea Quartet. rary music and reviving works that have Feller has recorded his core repertoire been forgotten. In his role as opera di- in three capacities: as solo , orches- rector he has commissioned and/or pre- tral soloist and chamber musician. He miered works including Eötvös’s Tri sestry, has taught at the Zurich Hochschule der Saariaho’s L’amour de loin, Adams’s The Künste since autumn 2013. Death of Klinghoffer, Widmann’s Babylon and ’s Alice in Wonderland. His broad programming policy is reflected in his recordings. The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra

The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra The FRSO has recorded works (FRSO) is the orchestra of the Finnish by Mahler, Bartók, Sibelius, Hakola, Broadcasting Company (Yle). Its mission Lindberg, Saariaho, Sallinen, Kaipainen, is to produce and promote Finnish musical Kokkonen and others. It has twice won culture and its Chief Conductor as of au- a Gramophone Award: for its disc of tumn 2013 has been Hannu Lintu. Lindberg’s Clarinet Concerto in 2006 The Radio Orchestra of ten players and of Bartók Violin Concertos in 2018. founded in 1927 grew to sympho- Other distinctions have included BBC ny orchestra proportions in the 1960s. Music Magazine, Académie Charles Cros Its Chief Conductors have been Toivo and MIDEM Classical awards. Its disc of Haapanen, Nils-Eric Fougstedt, Paavo tone poems and songs by Sibelius won Berglund, Okko Kamu, Leif Segerstam, an International Classical Music Award Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Sakari Oramo, (ICMA) in 2018, and it has been the re- and taking over from Hannu Lintu in 2021 cipient of a Finnish EMMA award in 2016 will be Nicholas Collon. and 2019. In addition to the great Classical- The FRSO regularly tours to all parts of Romantic masterpieces, the latest con- the world. During the 2020/2021 season 5 temporary music is a major item in the its schedule will include a tour to Spain un- repertoire of the FRSO, which each year der Hannu Lintu. premieres a number of Yle commissions. The FRSO concerts are broadcast live Another of the orchestra’s tasks is to re- on the Yle Areena and Radio 1 channels cord all Finnish orchestral music for the and are recorded and shown later on Yle Yle archive. Teema and TV 1.