“Such a compact entity, and yet we are in cosmic dimensions!” is how Jukka-Pekka Saraste sums up the wonder that is Sibelius's Fourth Symphony. The performance concludes the HPO's two-season Sibelius cycle. Sebastian Fagerlund is inspired by the symphony orchestra. He wants to compose music in which “everyone has something interesting to play and instrument groups communicate with each other.” In his composition Drifts, the orchestra is like a slow-moving stream that shapes sandbars and other changing forms.
In May 1907, Béla Bartók happened to meet an old violinist acquaintance, Stefi Geyer. He fell head-over-heels in love with her and drafted a violin concerto especially for her. It was to have been in three movements, each one showing her in a different light: heavenly intimate, amusing and clever, and finally cold and silent. He was heartbroken when she sent it back by return of post, with a parting letter. Battling with thoughts of suicide, he nevertheless finished the score and sent off the manuscript with an inscription that summarises the concerto’s history and nature: “My confession – for Stefi – from the times that were still happy. Although it was only half-happiness.” It is difficult to listen to this now two-movement concerto without thinking about its genesis.
The concerto lay hidden in Geyer’s drawer until 1958, when Hans-Heinz Schneeberger premiered it in Basel. In other words, Bartók never actually heard it – or even admitted that it existed.
His contemporaries claimed to hear in the Symphony No. 4 (1911) by Jean Sibelius (1865–1957) the rugged hills, the foaming rapids and whispering forests of the Karelian region he had visited two years before, but like one of the other composers on today’s programme, Jukka Tiensuu, he preferred not to explain his works. The music is anchored on a bleak motif stated right at the beginning that will run right through the symphony. The finale ends either in total despair or cheerful optimism, depending on how the listener wishes to interpret it, but it is no coincidence that Sibelius here used motifs he had originally planned for an orchestral setting of the poem The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe.
“With each new symphony, you always lose listeners who have been captivated by your previous ones,” he once said after the cold reception of his third symphony; this had been somewhat austere, unlike the ones before, but compared with the fourth, it was relatively easy to understand and entertaining. The fourth left listeners gazing into an abyss – maybe the abyss into which Sibelius had personally gazed not long before, afflicted by illness, financial worries and fear of death.
Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, has established himself as one of the outstanding conductors of his generation. Born in Finland in 1956, he began his career as a violinist. Today, he is renowned as an artist of exceptional versatility and breadth.
Saraste has previously held principal conductorships at the WDR Symphony Orchestra in Cologne, the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and has served as Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. As a guest conductor, he appears with major orchestras worldwide, including the Orchestre de Paris, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Cleveland Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Symphony Orchestras of Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco.
Coaching and mentoring young musicians is of great importance to Saraste. He is a founding member of the LEAD! Foundation, a mentorship programme for young conductors and soloists.
Yes, but only before or after the concert. During the concert we just want you to enjoy the music. This way you won’t disturb the musicians or other audience members.
Only the orchestra has a dress code. You can dress as you like.
You can give the ticket to a friend or donate it to a music student by calling 09-3102 2700 or sending an e-mail to helsinki.philharmonic@hel.fi by 3pm on the day of the concert.
