Gustav Mahler’s Third Symphony has an abundance of everything: musicians, singers, trumpets, percussion instruments, birdsong, country dances, military marches, sunshine, nocturnal moods. There is even an abundance of movements: six!
The composer even imagined that the work could be titled Pan, both in the sense of “everything” and as a reference to the Greek mythological god who ruled over forests, pastures, shepherds, livestock and fertility. The Third Symphony opens with a fanfare played by eight French horns. The introduction is as passive as a summer day, marked by oppressive heat without the slightest breeze. The air trembles and vibrates.
The concert is organised in cooperation with The LEAD! project.
https://leadorchestraproject.com
Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) observed in a famous quote that a symphony should contain the entire world. The best and most extreme manifestation of this tenet is his Symphony no. 3. It is the most extensive in a series of extensive works, clocking in at about 100 minutes, and has six movements. Its huge performing forces include not only a very large orchestra but also a vocal soloist, a women’s choir and a children’s choir.
Mahler wrote the Symphony in stages over a period of several years. It was premiered in Krefeld in summer 1902 with Mahler himself conducting and was a great success. The movements originally had descriptive headings, although Mahler later deleted them: 1. Pan Awakes, Summer Marches In; 2. What the Flowers in the Meadow Tell Me; 3. What the Animals in the Forest Tell Me; 4. What Man Tells Me; 5. What the Angels Tell Me; 6. What Love Tells Me. These titles indicate that the Symphony traces a spiritual process beginning with the tangible world and transcending to an immaterial dimension.
The huge first movement is a series of dramatic and rollicking marches. The second is a sensitive minuet. The third is a scherzo, interrupted on two occasions by the nostalgic, dreamy music of a ‘posthorn’ (generally substituted by a flugelhorn or trumpet in performance).
A human voice is introduced in the fourth movement, with a solo voice singing a poem from Nietzsche’s Also sprach Zarathustra. In the fifth movement, children sing of the Kingdom of Heaven in a setting from a naïve poem from the folk poetry collection Des Knaben Wunderhorn. The finale is an expansive Adagio that ascends to embrace the entire universe.
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.
Scottish mezzo Karen Cargill has earned wide acclaim on major operatic stages, including the New York Metropolitan, Covent Garden, the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Glyndebourne. Equally established on the concert stage, she regularly appears with conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Daniel Harding, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Robin Ticciati, Rafael Payare, and Edward Gardner. Cargill also sings Lieder with her regular recital partner Simon Lepper.
In the current seson, Cargill’s operatic engagements include Judith in Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle at the Canadian Opera Company and Adelaide in Strauss’ Arabella at the Metropolitan Opera. She has recently sung Geneviève in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande with Ryan Wigglesworth and the BBC SSO and Waltraute in Wagner’s Götterdämmerung with Patrick Hahn and the Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal. In June, she joins the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Esa-Pekka Salonen as the soloist in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2.
Cantores Minores (est. 1952) is the largest and most professional boys' choir in Finland. The Choir draws its inspiration strongly from the German protestant boys' choir tradition. More than 400 boys and young men participate in the choir's activities every year. Cantores Minores has also been granted significant recognition: 2014 the Finnish State Music Committee awarded the choir the State Prize for Music.
Cantores Minores performs not only in its home country but also abroad. The choir has made 72 major concert tours to, among others, India, Japan, the United States and 23 European countries. In 2027, the choir will celebrate its 75th anniversary with several different projects both domestically and internationally.
Since 2005, professor Hannu Norjanen has been the artistic director of the Cantores Minores boys' choir and the principal of the CM Music Institute.
The President of the Republic Alexander Stubb and Mrs. Suzanne Innes-Stubb are the permanent patrons of the choir.
The Helsinki Music Centre Chorus is a symphonic choir of 130 singers that can also be transformed into a male or a female choir if necessary. The choir collaborates with the resident organisations of the Helsinki Music Centre: the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki. The artistic director of the choir is the Professor of Choral Conducting Nils Schweckendiek. The choir was founded in 2011.
The choir’s repertoire consists of symphonic choral and orchestral works, complemented by a cappella works for a chorus. The repertoire covers all musical eras, including contemporary music. The programme is planned on a long-term basis in collaboration with the resident organisations of the Music Centre. The choir performs eight to ten times a year, mainly in the Helsinki Music Centre, but also elsewhere.
| Violin 1 Pekka Kauppinen Kreeta-Julia Heikkilä Kari Olamaa Eija Hartikainen Katariina Jämsä Maiju Kauppinen Kati Kuusava Ilkka Lehtonen Jani Lehtonen Petri Päivärinne Kalinka Pirinen Satu Savioja Sirkku Helin Rebekka Aaltola Sari Deshayes Sophie Heinrich Júlia Mušáková Seo Wonjay Violin 2 Tami Pohjola Anna-Leena Haikola Teija Kivinen Kamran Omarli Teppo Ali-Mattila Serguei Gonzalez Pavlova Matilda Haavisto Linda Hedlund Siiri Rasta Krista Rosenberg Ángeles Salas Salas Eevi Hannonen Lena-Marie Stöger Yaodang Zhang Viola Torsten Tiebout Oleksandr Ahafonov Lotta Poijärvi Dasha Auer Petteri Poijärvi Aulikki Haahti-Turunen Kaarina Ikonen Tiila Kangas Carmen Moggach Liisa Orava Mariette Reefman Markus Sallinen Hajnalka Standi-Pulakka Jaakko Laivuori Cello Tuomas Ylinen Alexander Shirinyan Beata Antikainen Selma Sköld Lauri Kankkunen Jaani Helander Veli-Matti Iljin Ilmo Saaristo Saara Särkimäki Johannes Välja Tommi Wesslund Nadja Barrow Bass Ville Väätäinen Eero Ignatius Tuomo Matero Svenja Dose Paul Aksman Henri Dunderfelt Martti Genevet Iikka Järvi Ari Mansala Jon Mendiguchia | Flute Niamh McKenna Elina Raijas Päivi Korhonen Jenny Villanen Oboe Hannu Perttilä Jussi Jaatinen Paula Malmivaara Nils Rõõmussaar Clarinet Samuel Buron-Mousseau Anna-Maija Korsimaa Heikki Nikula Hanna Hujanen Laure Paris Bassoon Mikko-Pekka Svala Erkki Suomalainen Noora Van Dok Alan Davidson Horn Ruben Buils Garcia Ville Hiilivirta Miska Miettunen Mika Paajanen Sam Parkkonen Joonas Seppelin Satu Huuskonen Elías Moncholí Cerveró Trumpet Thomas Bugnot Obin Meurin Michael Olsen Mika Tuomisalo David Busawon Trombone Darren Acosta Valtteri Malmivirta Anu Fagerström Jussi Vuorinen Tuba Ilkka Marttila Timpani Tomi Wikström Mikael Sandström Percussion Xavi Castelló Aràndiga Aleksi Haapaniemi Virva Kuusi Sampo Kuusisto Alex Martin Agustin Tuija-Maija Nurminen Harp Anni Kuusimäki Minnaleena Jankko |
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.
