5.9. WEDNESDAY SERIES 1 Music Centre at 19:00

Hannu Lintu, conductor Evgeny Kissin, piano

Jukka Tiensuu: Alma III: Soma 9 min

Franz Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Flat, S. 124 19 min I Allegro maestoso II Quasi adagio III Allegretto vivace – Allegro animato IV Allegro marziale animato

INTERVAL 20 min

Witold Lutosławski: Symphony No. 3 28 min

Interval at about 19.45. The concert will end at about 20.50.

1 seeking exciting worlds of timbre, but JUKKA TIENSUU his material has become clearer, more (b. 1948): ALMA III: unrestrained and even more musician- SOMA ly. Orchestral works were, to begin with, What makes composers compose, a mere side-line in Tiensuu’s output, asked Jukka Tiensuu in 1983. Why the not gaining dominance until the 1990s. compulsion to be constantly reorgan- His Alma trilogy of three independ- ising the world of sound? The reasons ent works (Alma I: Himo, 1995, Alma II: put forward by his colleagues are mani- Lumo, 1996 and Alma III: Soma, 1998) is fold: to earn a living, to have something one of his greatest compositions for to do, to satisfy a need for self-analysis, orchestra, and all three works incorpo- to get their opinions better heard, pure rate electronics. chance… Personally, he has just sub- Their ambiguous titles lend a certain scribed to the age-old view of music as enchantment to Tiensuu’s works. They the shortest route to a higher spiritual are generally open to so many interpre- plane and has written barely a word tations that here at least they cannot about his own composing and works. be said to steer the listener’s thoughts The music is what matters, he says, not too much. “Alma”, for example, means the person behind it. He does not want “kind” or “mild” in Latin, but “soul” in his thoughts and commentaries to Spanish. It is also a girl’s name and come between himself and the listen- many places are called Alma. “Soma” is er, but instead to let the music speak both an adjective and a noun; in the for itself and leave the freedom of dis- latter case it may, for example, refer to covery to the listener. And there is cer- the Hindu god of the moon, a hallu- tainly plenty of scope for this in his cinogenic ritual drink, the Soma cube works. Tiensuu has gone from height or the microscopic cell body of a neu- to height as a composer, creating spar- ron (“soma” in many languages). kling works of exquisite artistry. The orchestration of Soma is fresh, When Jukka Tiensuu first emerged richly nuanced and airy. Its world of as a composer in the 1970s, he quickly timbre unfolds in a way that is almost joined the vanguard of the modernist unreal into radiant spectral chords sup- front. There had, he said, to be a spe- plemented by various echo effects and cific reason for the birth of any work, reflections. The music is for the most and to ensure this, he always adopted part mobile and scherzo-like, and at a fresh initial concept for each, apply- times even motoric, with a minimalis- ing different contemporary composi- tic pulse. tion techniques in an almost encyclo- paedic manner. His career nevertheless seemed to take a turn in a new direc- tion in the 1980s. He still likes exper- imenting with new phenomena and

2 FRANZ LISZT write. When composing, he tended to jot down a rough draft at speed and (1811–1886): PIANO then keep improving it. This also ap- CONCERTO NO. 1 IN plied to the first piano concerto, which E-FLAT MAJOR he revised in 1853 and 1856. It was first performed in Weimar in April 1855, be- fore the last round of amendments. At “For a whole fortnight my mind and the keyboard sat Liszt himself, and the my fingers have been working like two orchestra was conducted by another damned souls. […] I practice four to great reform-minded composer of the five hours of exercises (3rds, 6ths, oc- Romantic era, Hector Berlioz. taves, tremolos, repeated notes, caden- In composing for the piano, Liszt zas, etc.). Ah! Provided I don’t go mad, did not only expand the range of key- you will find an artist in me.” board devices; he also came up with Thus Franz Liszt exclaimed in spring some original formal solutions. Into 1831 after hearing the great violinist his one-movement piano concertos Niccolò Paganini in Paris. He was 19 he inserted elements of a traditional at the time, and already a brilliant, im- multiple-movement concerto. He was, mensely talented pianist, but not until however, not content simply to stitch he heard Paganini did he finally realise movements together like Mendelssohn, the true extent of instrumental virtu- for example, or as Schumann did in his osity. With the image of Paganini in his cello concerto; rather, he explored the mind, he launched his own keyboard potential of using and varying themat- revolution, not just as a performer but ic material that was shared by different also as a composer, and the two ele- episodes, thus tying them together. ments would become inseparable in his In the E-flat concerto, the piano en- career. In the light of his fanatic focus ters in the opening bars already, estab- on the piano, it is no wonder that the lishing its sovereignty in mighty quad- soloist in all his works for soloist and or- ruple octaves. It nevertheless soon chestra is the piano. In addition to two reveals a more lyrical side of its charac- numbered piano concertos he wrote a ter, and it is in this vein that the second, few other works for this combination. heightened slow movement continues The seeds of Liszt’s piano concertos in a style reminiscent of the operatic were sown in the early 1830s, at around arias of Bellini and Chopin’s nocturnes. the time of the seminal Paganini ex- Next comes what is in a way a sort of perience, and they were both the out- ‘extra’ element that expands the nor- come of a complex composition pro- mal concerto form: a Mephistophelian, cess. Liszt began sketching the first in mostly mischievous, airy, dashing 1830 already, and outlined some con- scherzo episode with triangle passages certos based on partly the same ma- that never ceased to amaze contempo- terial in mid-decade and 1839, but not rary critics. until 1849 did he really sit down to A return of the concerto’s opening

3 gestures prepares the way for the clos- ternatives to the strict serialism of the ing section. This finale does not, how- previous decade. His solution was the ever, have any real thematic content composition technique known as ale- of its own. Instead, it places material atoric counterpoint he first applied in from earlier movements in a new light. Jeux vénitiens of 1961. An example here is the march-like mo- In aleatoric counterpoint or “limited tif with which the movement begins, aleatory”, the parts of each individual now as a variation on the main theme player are usually written out in detail, of the slow movement. Thus the final but their mutual rhythmic synchronis- section serves as both a recapitulation ing is free and varies from one perfor- and a summary binding the whole work mance to another. The result is a tex- together. ture of no fixed rhythm that is, despite the freedom in performance, within the composer’s strict control. There are in Lutosławski’s works also some WITOLD LUTOSŁAWSKI precisely synchronised passages, the (1913–1994): proportion of which in the whole be- gan to grow again in his later works. At SYMPHONY NO. 3 the same time, the harmonies became clearer and melody acquired a more Few works seem to have been born prominent role. classics in the way that the third sym- Lutosławski’s first symphony (1941– phony of Witold Lutosławski has. From 1947) still reflects the Neoclassical in- its premiere onwards, in September fluence of his early period, but in his 1983, it has without exception received later three symphonies he applied ale- glowing reviews, and it quickly became atoric counterpoint, most extensive- one of the most often-performed new, ly in the second (1965–1967), which is large-scale works for orchestra. It has furthest removed from the traditional won an ever firmer place in the reper- symphony. His late stylistic period is ev- toire, and for many it represents the ident in his third (1981–1983) and even apex of Lutosławski’s magnificent out- more clearly his fourth (1988–1992). put, his richest and most impressive The question of form was one that achievement. occupied Lutosławski most especial- Lutosławski began planning the sym- ly in his symphonies. He particularly phony commissioned by the Chicago shunned the symphonies of Brahms, Symphony Orchestra in the early 1970s which have two movements (the first already, but did not actually compose and last) that are weightier than the it until 1981–1983. He had by that others, reckoning that they were too time come to be regarded as one of heavy for the listener. Rather, he ad- the most significant composers of the mired the overall form of Haydn’s sym- post-WWII period and was, like Ligeti, phonies. From his second symphony one of the leaders of the search for al- onwards, he settled for a bipartite for-

4 mat performed without a break: his the first main section. This is made up aim was to create a first movement of episodes that vary in content and with fragmentary and deliberately get slower each time, alternating with short-spanned music, and a weighti- little refrains on a small group of wood- er, more single-minded second move- winds. Both elements are heard twice, ment that would banish the sense of and the third episode continues with discontent and frustration aroused by a slow intermezzo. The result is pre- the first in the listener. In his third sym- cisely the sort of strategy designed to phony, he supplemented this bipartite emphasise discontinuity that gradually form with a fairly large epilogue. The makes the listener long for some more movements or main sections are not, sustained development. however, marked in the score in the A reinforced version of the opening way they still were in the second sym- signal finally announces the second, phony. boisterous main section that is an ef- The third symphony by Witold fective contrast to the first. According Lutosławski is arrestingly intensive, to Lutosławski, “The second, main with spirited build-ups. Many asso- movement is based on a group of toc- ciate its inner drama with the politi- cata-like themes contrasting with a cal and social unrest in Poland in the rather singing one…” It creates the im- early 1980s; for this was the time of pression of two complex build-ups, the Solidarity, its protests and declaration first of which culminates in an aleator- of a state of war. As one critic put it ically seething web of sound. The sec- at the premiere, “This piece is exactly ond build-up begins with low-string what might be expected from a Polish pizzicatos and gradually grows fuller composer at the moment.” As a rule, and fuller, spreading into new instru- Lutosławski did not wish to see any ment groups to form a passionate dra- such links, stressing the independ- ma but one tinged with broad melody. ent, absolute nature of his music. In The epilogue could almost be taken the case of his third symphony he did, as a separate movement; it notably ex- however, concede that there might be pands symphonic form and the expe- some connection with external reali- riential span. The melodic element is ty, but in the same breath went on to now at its broadest and gives the sym- stress that if any existed, it was sub- phony its own elegiac tone. Rounding conscious, not intentional. off the work as a coda is one last build- The symphony begins with a strik- up rooted in the familiar signal motif. ing repeated-note signal. It is an elec- trifying musical exclamation mark, like a variation on the opening motif of Beethoven’s fifth symphony, and it recurs a number of times, marking off the course of the symphony. A brief introduction is followed by

5 EVGENY KISSIN

Hannu Lintu has been Chief Conductor Russian-born Evgeny Kissin (b. 1971) of the Finnish Radio Symphony was still only a teenager when he shot Orchestra since August 2013. During to fame in the latter half of the 1980s the 2018/2019 season, his sched- and soon established his position as ule will include appearances with the one of the finest pianists in the world Baltimore, St Louis and Cincinnati today. From the very beginning, he has Symphony Orchestras, the New Japan dazzled audiences with his outstand- Philharmonic, the Singapore Symphony, ing technique, but later increasingly the NDR Symphony Hamburg and oth- for the profundity and poetry of his er orchestras. Further highlights of the performances. He follows in the great season will include his debut with the Russian pianist tradition and is best Boston Symphony and the Russian known for his renderings of the sta- National Orchestra. In particular, he ple Romantic repertoire: Chopin, Liszt, has worked in recent times with the Rachmaninoff, etc. Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, the Kissin began to play by ear and im- Washington National Symphony and provise on the piano at the age of the Symphony Orchestras of Dallas two and at only six years old entered and Detroit. Moscow’s celebrated Gnessin School of Maestro Lintu also conducts reg- Music. At the age of ten, he made his ularly at the Finnish National Opera concerto debut playing Mozart’s Piano and the Savonlinna Opera Festival. He Concerto in D Minor and he gave his conducted Giuseppe Verdi’s Otello in first solo recital in Moscow one year lat- Savonlinna in July 2018 and his sched- er. ule for spring 2019 includes a pro- From the 1990s onwards, Kissin duction of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck in has performed the world over with Helsinki. such eminent conductors as Abbado, Hannu Lintu studied the piano and Ashkenazy, Barenboim, Dohnányi, cello at the be- Giulini, Maazel, Muti and Ozawa. In ad- fore joining the conducting class of dition to his solo engagements and re- Jorma Panula. He attended master- citals he is a keen chamber musician classes with Myung Whun Chung at and last season toured widely with the L’Accademia Musicale Chigiana, Siena Emerson Quartet. and won first prize in the Nordic Kissin’s numerous discs have won Conducting Competition in Bergen in such distinctions as an Edison Klassiek, 1994. He has recorded on the Ondine, a Diapason d’Or, a Grand Prix du BIS, Hyperion and other labels. Disque, and Grammy awards in 2006 and 2010. He has been a British citizen since 2002 and an Israeli citizen since 2013.

6 THE FINNISH olin concertos with Christian Tetzlaff and conductor Hannu Lintu won a RADIO SYMPHONY Gramophone Award in 2018, and that ORCHESTRA of tone poems and songs by Sibelius an International Classical Music Award. The Finnish Radio Symphony It was also Gramophone magazine’s Orchestra (FRSO) is the orchestra of Editor’s Choice in November 2017 and the Finnish Broadcasting Company BBC Music Magazine’s Record of the (Yle). Its mission is to produce and pro- Month in January 2018. Its forthcoming mote Finnish musical culture and its albums are of music by Lutosławski, Chief Conductor as of autumn 2013 Fagerlund and Beethoven. hThe Radio Orchestra of ten players The FRSO regularly tours to all parts formed in 1927 later grew to sympho- of the world. During the 2018/2019 ny orchestra size in the 1960s. Over the season its schedule will include a tour years, its Chief Conductors have been of Finland under Hannu Lintu, to Toivo Haapanen, Nils-Eric Fougstedt, Pietarsaari, Kauhajoki, Forssa and Lahti. Paavo Berglund, Okko Kamu, Leif FRSO concerts are broadcast live on Segerstam, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and the Yle Areena channel and Yle Radio . 1 and recorded on Yle Teema and Yle In addition to the great Classical- TV 1. Romantic masterpieces, the latest con- temporary music is a major item in the repertoire of the FRSO, which each year premieres a number of Yle com- missions. Another of the orchestra’s tasks is to record all Finnish orches- tral music for the Yle archive. During the 2018/2019 season, the FRSO will premiere four Finnish works commis- sioned by Yle. The FRSO has recorded works by Mahler, Ligeti, Eötvös, Sibelius, Lindberg, Saariaho, Sallinen, Kaipainen, Kokkonen and others, and the de- but disc of the opera Aslak Hetta by Armas Launis. Its disc of the Bartók vi-

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