Friday, October 23, 2015, 8pm Hertz Hall eco ensemble David Milnes, conductor Anssi Karttunen, cello Lauren Snouffer, soprano Nikolas Nackley, baritone PROGRAM Kaija Saariaho (b. 1952) Sept papillons (2000) Papillon 1 Dolce, leggiere, libero Papillon 2 Leggiere, molto espressivo Papillon 3 Calmo, con tristezza Papillon 4 Dolce, tranquillo Papillon 5 Lento, misterioso Papillon 6 Sempre poco nervoso, senza tempo Papillon 7 Molto espressivo, energico Anssi Karttunen, cello Saariaho Five Songs from The Tempest Songbook (1993 –2004) Ariel’s Hall ( soprano ) ( 2000) Caliban’s Dream ( baritone ) ( 1993) Miranda’s Lament ( soprano ) ( 1997) Prospero’s Vision ( baritone ) ( 2002) Ferdinand’s Comfort ( soprano & baritone ) ( 2004) Lauren Snouffer, soprano Daniel Cullen, mandolin Nikolas Nackley, baritone Dan Levitan, harp Tod Brody, flute Hrabba Atladottir, violin Peter Josheff, clarinet Leighton Fong, cello Travis Andrews, guitar Richard Worn, double bass INTERMISSION 15 PROGRAM Saariaho Notes on Light (2006) I. Translucent, secret II. On fire III. Awakening IV. Eclipse — V. Heart of light Anssi Karttunen, solo cello Bonnie Pei, percussion Stacey Pelinka, flute Ben Prima, timpani Kyle Bruckmann, oboe Ann Yi, piano Peter Josheff, clarinet Karen Rosenak, celesta Daniel Zimardi, bassoon Dan Levitan, harp Alicia Telford, horn Hrabba Atladottir, violin Brad Hogarth, trumpet Dan Flanagan, violin Weston Olencki, trombone Ellen Ruth Rose, viola Tiffany Bayly, tuba Leighton Fong, cello Daniel Kennedy, percussion Richard Worn, double bass Special thanks to the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT). eco ensemble Executive Director Richard Andrews Production Coordinator Amadeus Regucera Program Development Coordinators Matthew Schumaker, Scott Rubin Artistic Advisory Committee Edmund Campion David Milnes Matías Tarnopolsky Cindy Cox Franck Bedrossian Major support for this performance is provided by The Bernard Osher Foundation. Cal Performances’ #!"$–#!"% season is sponsored by Wells Fargo. PLAYBILL PROGRAM NOTES Kaija Saariaho (b. ;C?<) music. Also, all the first perform ances of these Sept papillons (<:::) pieces have been surprises, and no one of them shares the same birthday. Sept papillons was the first piece Saariaho For time being, there are seven songs in The wrote after her opera L’Amour de loin , and it Tempest Songbook , and there might be more was partly written during the rehearsals of the to come. opera in Salzburg. One can sense the desire to Kaija Saariaho, 2015 find a new world, which has nothing to do with the opera neither in style nor in lan - guage. From the metaphors of the opera Saariaho which all have an eternal quality—love, yearn - Notes on Light (<::@) ing, and death—she moved now to a metaphor of the ephemeral: butterfly. Kaija Saariaho’s works are not narrative in Also, from the long times-spans of the the sense that they would describe a specific opera she moved to these seven miniatures, event or tell a story. Nevertheless, through which each seem to be studies on a different the musical textures and also through their aspect of fragile and ephemeral movement titles they tend to evoke the listener’s imag - that has no beginning or end. ination and provoke emotions. The title of Sept papillons was commissioned by the the cello concerto, Notes on Light , gives a vi - Rudolf Steiner Foundation and was first per - sual stimulus which is emphasized by the formed by Anssi Karttunen in Helsinki in headings of the five movements. The piece September 2000. starts “Translucent, secret” and the imagi - © Chester Music Publishers nary journey ends with “Heart of Light.” The only direct literary reference in the work is the quotation from T. S. Eliot’s The Saariaho Waste Land on last page of the score, as the Five Songs from The Tempest Songbook composer’s guiding post scriptum after the (;CC=–<::> ) music has finished. It is more fruitful to see Notes on Light in When I composed Caliban’s Dream in 1993 the context of Kaija Saariaho’s own œuvre for the 50th anniversary of Brian than in the historical line of the concerto Ferneyhough, I used for the first time some tradition. Before starting to write she stud - lines from William Shakespeare’s play The ied the cello concerto repertoire, especially Tempest for my music. I didn’t know then that the concertos of Elgar, Dvořák, and I had started a series of works—to be written Schumann, but finally there is practically over the years, and always as a birthday trib - nothing that has been filtered to Notes on ute—which I would later call The Tempest Light . The key elements of the great roman - Songbook . After Caliban’s Dream appeared, tic concertos—virtuosic cello writing and Miranda’s Lament (1997) for the 60th birth - expressive melodic lines on the A string— day of Paavo Heininen, th en Ariel’s Hail (2000) are absent in Saariaho’s aesthetics. for the 40th birthday of Anssi Karttunen, Kaija Saariaho’s music is born from a con - Prospero’s Vision (2002) to celebrate Peter tact with musicians. Of her two previous Sellars’s 55th birthday , and Ferdinand’s concertos the first, Graal théâtre (1994), was Comfort (2004) for Roger Reynolds. The most written for Gidon Kremer, whose playing in - recent addition is Bosun’s Cheer for Aleksi spired her to dedicate a work for him. Barrière in 2014 . All the persons mentioned Camilla Hoitenga was the soloist designed here have been important for me and my for the flute concerto, Aile du songe (2001 ). PROGRAM NOTES If one would name one performer who transparent, leaving the cello to be heard has accompanied Kaija Saariaho most faith - even in the very quiet passages. Energy is fully throughout her career, it is Anssi not created through making a lot of noise Karttunen, who has worked very closely with but through more subtle means. Yet, at her since the last 25 years or so. According to times, especially in the second movement, the composer, it is Mr. Karttunen’s personality the music achieves an almost violent driv - that inspires her most while writing for the ing force. The relationship of cello and or - cello. “Through his playing, Anssi can create chestra is not as if a hero was having a battle magical atmospheres like no one else,” she with a crowd, as in the traditional concerto, confirms, and adds that in fact, the collabora - but more a picture of an object seen in dif - tion most often starts only when the piece is ferent lights. Every turn of the kaleidoscope written. “Then, Anssi may propose technical gives a new image, another note on light. adjustments to certain details after trying When you come to the end, all that is left is them out.” For Mr. Karttunen, Kaija Saariaho silence, the other side of sound. Or dark - is able to write very delicate, even fragmentary ness, the heart of light. textures, yet he is able to make the music carry Risto Nieminen up to the audience. Although Notes on Light is Saariaho’s first At first sight, Notes on Light, with its five move - cello concerto in the traditional sense of the ments, doesn’t quite resemble the average cello word, she has proposed other works where concerto. However, after taking a closer look I cello plays a central role, like ...à la fumée soon found the elements that I believe make a (1990) for flute, cello, orchestra, and electron - great concerto: (1) The relation of soloist and ics, and Amers (1992) for cello, chamber en - orchestra goes through many very different semble, and electronics, both naturally for situations. (2) The cello is given the chance to Mr. Karttunen. Notes on Light is clearly a show its full versatility. (3) When the soloist synthesis of all the music for cello Kaija has important things to say, the orchestra Saariaho has written so far, both musically gives it space and also gets its m oments to lift and technically. the music up into exuberant colors. As regards the form, Notes on Light may The solo cello is not just the hero of Notes mark an endpoint in Saariaho’s production. on Light ; he or she also has to stand up for his The two previous concertos were divided or her rights, fight, lead, collaborate with and into two main movements, whereas the sometimes submit to the orchestra. All these most recent one is set in five separate parts. make Notes on Light a rich voyage that could The pieces that have followed the concerto, well lead us into the very heart of light. Mirage (2007) for soprano, cello (again!), and I see two intervals of a semitone as impor - orchestra and Laterna magica (2008) for or - tant mottos of the piece. The first is a slide chestra, premièred by the Berlin Philharmonic down from F-sharp to F-natural, which starts in 2009 , are in one continuous movement. In the piece, and to which one returns from dif - Notes on Light , the five movements allow the ferent paths along the concerto. The second is composer to play on contrasting elements, a rising figure of C-sharp to D-natural, which juxtaposing different characters abrubtly. often interrupts the action and stops the The material out of which the music is de - soloist. These two motives seem to be even rived is seemingly simple, but Kaija Saariaho stronger landmarks than any melodic element. is able to put it in different guises and to light In the last movement the single note of F-sharp it from different angles, showing the rich - proves to be the center of the whole work. ness of the underlying structure. Through the voice of the cello, the first The orchestra, deprived of other brass movement introduces the secret world of the instruments except the horns, is always piece, translucently colored by the orchestra PLAYBILL PROGRAM NOTES in small ensembles.