12 SEPTEMBER FRIDAY SERIES 2 Helsinki Music Centre at 7 pm Jukka-Pekka Saraste, conductor Ruth Ziesak, soprano Michael Nagy, baritone Helsinki Music Centre Choir, coach Tapani Länsiö Valentin Silvestrov: Symphony No. 4 28 min Andante – Allegro agitato – Meno mosso – Allegretto – Andante / Allegretto – Allegro agitato – Andante – Moderato – Meno mosso INTERVAL 20 min Johannes Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45 75 min (A German Requiem) I Selig sind die da Leid tragen (Blessed are they who bear suffering) II Denn alles Fleisch, es ist wie Gras (For all flesh, it is as grass) III Herr, lehre doch mich (Lord, teach me) IV Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen (How lovely are Thy dwellings) V Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit (You now have sadness) VI Denn wir haben hier keine bleibende Statt (For here we have no lasting place) VII Selig sind die Toten (Blessed are the dead) Interval at about 7.35 pm. The concert ends at about 9.20 pm. Broadcast live on Yle Radio 1 and the Internet (yle.fi/rso). 1 VALENTIN SILVESTROV space effects, the symphony’s one-mo- vement format and the futuristic spi- (1937–): SYMPHONY rit that calls to mind the sci-fi films of NO. 4 Tarkovsky (Solaris, Stalker). There are few works in which a person or a solo A former student of Boris Lyatoshinsky violin is left so alone to make his or her and Levko Revutsky in Kiev, Valentin own choices, and the silence is absolu- Silvestrov finally discovered an idiom of te as the music dies away. his own in the 1970s after experimen- ting with serialism and aleatory. His works represent music in a world where “great” art has become an impossibility JOHANNES BRAHMS and ideas demanding change get bu- (1833–1897): ried beneath materialism. The postmo- dern distance of Silvestrov’s music was EIN DEUTSCHES reflected in the titles he chose for his REQUIEM works, such as Postludium, Metamusic and Kitsch-Music. They also reflect anti- Brahms was profoundly shocked by the Soviet sentiments. tragic death in 1856 of his older collea- Silvestrov first made a name for him- gue Robert Schumann after attemp- self internationally with his Symphony ting suicide. During Schumann’s illness No. 5 of 1982, but many would say that he had struck up a warm relationship his real breakthrough came with his with Robert’s wife Clara. Soon after “post-symphony” and postscript to the Robert’s death, Brahms began plan- genre, the Fourth Symphony of 1976. ning a four-movement Trauerkantate For emerging from the string and brass or “Funeral Cantata” on the model of sound is a hollow, timeless, archaic Bach’s BWV 198. By 1857 he had alrea- landscape. dy completed the Sarabande in B flat The basic elements of Symphony No. minor, “Den alles Fleisch, es ist wie Gras 5 are easy to identify. The solid, ag- “– “For all flesh, it is as grass” that was la- gressive string chords at the beginning ter to be the second movement of the leave melodic fragments floating in German Requiem of 1868. their wake. Contrasting them are then The death of his mother in 1865 ghostly, motorised arpeggios that, as prompted Brahms to compose another the work progresses, get in the way of movement, “Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit” – any attempts at melody. Taking shape “You now have sadness”, an idyllic picture between these elements are sympho- of mourning for soprano, choir and or- nic passages that wax and wane and chestra. The Brahms Requiem was first follow the principles of a mechanical performed in its final version in Bremen cycle rather than an organic process. on Good Friday 1868. Though dedica- Less easy to describe are Silvestrov’s ted to the memory of his mother, her orchestra, creating three-dimensional death was, for Brahms the composer, 2 possibly more of a liberating than an the risks and pitfalls. We, the Radio inspiring factor. Symphony Orchestra, the Helsinki The words of the Requiem are based Philharmonic Orchestra, the Sibelius on the Lutheran Bible, plus texts from Academy and the Music Centre de- the Apocrypha, such as Wisdom and cided to form a symphonic choir of Sirach. In choosing his texts, Brahms about 80 excellent singers that would wished to avoid being denominational, have a natural link with the Music and at no point is there any mention Centre incumbents. First, we agreed of, for example, Christ. on the repertoire for autumn 2012: Brahms’s personal sorrows and losses Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem with lend the Requiem a realistic and intima- the FRSO under Jukka-Pekka Saraste, te tone, and there is undeniably a sen- and just before Christmas Beethoven’s se of the inadequacy he experienced in Ninth Symphony with Leif Segerstam the face of the insurmountable challen- conducting the HPO. We then sent out ges posed by life and composition. The a call for singers with beautiful voices Requiem’s expiatory message, its balan- willing to commit themselves to such ced resources and symphonic strength a venture. nevertheless transcend the bounds of From over 400 candidates we cho- personal tragedy and speak to the lis- se just over 80 singers with whom, in tener as a collective, moving experien- January, we set about seeking and cre- ce, regardless of time and place. ating our sound, our way of singing beautifully and all in all our culture of Antti Häyrynen (abridged) working and experiencing; not just at concerts but at every rehearsal, too. We rehearse together approximately every other Sunday evening and have lots of A COMMUNAL VOICE homework. Judging from the spring’s results, I am now somewhat more con- Years ago, when the Music Centre was fident about the choir’s future than I still just a dream on the drawing bo- was at the planning meetings a year ard, many had a first-class choir in ago. At many of the rehearsals I have mind; it would be as natural a part of already heard a sound that is balm to the Music Centre as the orchestras the ears, true joy at joining together in and the Sibelius Academy. Little by litt- song and elevating moments of serio- le the prospects faded, however, and us hard work. This above all, will, I hope, with them the dreams. Then about a come across to the audience. year ago, following the Centre’s splen- The Music Centre Choir is an ear- did opening, the parties involved ne- nest attempt by more than a hun- vertheless met to discuss the possi- dred people to create a band of sin- bility of founding a suitable choir. We gers naturally suited to planning and drew up a model, a plan, voiced our performing concerts with the Radio hopes and expectations and analysed Symphony Orchestra and the Helsinki 3 Philharmonic. It has also been a source In recent years Mr Saraste has ap- of pleasure and useful for students at peared with, among others, the Chicago, the Sibelius Academy. London and La Scala Philharmonics, We now have plans with the orchest- the Philharmonia in London, ras for years ahead, and each season the Amsterdam Concertgebouw we will further try to give an a cappel- Orchestra, the Dresden Staatskapelle la concert of our own. Our own con- and the Boston Symphony. He con- cert this autumn, Hymn Night, can be ducted Merikanto’s opera Juha at the heard at the Music Centre late on All Savonlinna Opera Festival in 2002 and Saints’ Day, Saturday 3 November. 2003. With the FRSO Mr Saraste has recor- Tapani Länsiö, Choir Master ded the complete Sibelius symphonies (twice, for RCA and Finlandia), Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 and a Stravinsky al- bum (Virgin Classics), Merikanto’s JUKKA-PEKKA SARASTE Juha (Ondine) and Madetoja’s The Ostrobothnians (Finlandia), and In autumn 2010 Jukka-Pekka Saraste the complete Nielsen symphonies embarked on a three-year term (Finlandia, 2001). He has also recorded as Chief Conductor of the WDR works by Bartók, Dutilleux, Prokofiev Symphony Orchestra in Cologne. He and others with the Toronto Symphony has been Music Director of the Oslo Orchestra. Philharmonic since 2006, is Artistic Advisor to the Finnish Chamber Orchestra and Artistic Director of the RUTH ZIESAK Ekenäs Summer Concerts in Finland. In autumn 2008 he began a three-year Soprano Ruth Ziesak studied at the appointment as Artistic Advisor to the College of Music and Performing Lahti Symphony Orchestra and Artistic Arts in Frankfurt am Main under Elsa Director of its Sibelius Festival. Cavelti. Numerous competition succes- Mr Saraste was Chief Conductor of ses quickly paved the way to an inter- the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra national career. After her debut at the 1987–2001. During that time he led Deutsche Oper am Rhein, her career the orchestra on many tours of Europe, led her to stages and platforms ranging two to the Far East, and its debut visit from Munich, Berlin, Vienna and Milan to the United States. He was Principal to New York. Guest Conductor of the BBC Symphony Her great operatic roles have inclu- Orchestra 2002–2005, Music Director ded Pamina in Mozart’s The Magic of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra Flute, Marzelline in Beethoven’s Fidelio 1994–2001, and for several years and the Countess in Mozart’s The worked with the Scottish Chamber Marriage of Figaro. She is a much Orchestra. sought-after concert soloist and works 4 with leading orchestras the world MICHAEL NAGY over. Ruth Ziesak has also appeared at such prestigious festivals as the BBC Proms, Lucerne and Salzburg, singing Hungarian-born baritone Michael Nagy under the baton of conductors such has made a career for himself at ope- as Herbert Blomstedt, Riccardo Muti, ra houses in Germany, beginning as a Kent Nagano and Riccardo Chailly, with member of the solo ensemble of the the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Komische Oper in Berlin before moving Dresden Staatskapelle, the Los Angeles to Frankfurt.