“The audience is always part of the performance. It is a mysterious triangle: composer, musicians, and audience. One hears the audience. Their impact is most powerfully felt in their silence.” (classicalvoice.org) Conductor Antonello Manacorda's long-awaited return to Helsinki leads the audience and the orchestra into the mysterious triangle of the concert experience. Manacorda and Robert Schumann are our celebrated guests for two weeks!
Robert Schumann: Symphony No. 4
Having devoted the 1830s almost entirely to music for the piano, Robert Schumann (1809–1856) then turned his manic attention first to songs and then symphonies. His first symphony, written in a mere few weeks, was a great success and encouraged him to believe that writing a symphony was child’s play. His second, clearly influenced by Beethoven’s fifth, soon proved him wrong, however. Its premiere was a disaster, it got banished from sight and would be left to gather dust for the next ten years. It then reappeared in 1851, its errors corrected and with lighter instrumentation under the title of Symphony No. 4 in D Minor, Op. 120.
In writing a symphony with movements linked together without a break, Schumann took symphonic unity further than any of his predecessors had done. Whereas Berlioz, for example, in his Symphonie fantastique, kept coming back to his theme either as such or with only minor changes, Schumann in practice based the whole of his D-minor symphony on a single motif first heard in the slow introduction to the first movement. The result was a homogeneous work in a single movement abounding in familiar melodies.
Robert Schumann: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Rhenish, Op. 97
The Rhenish Symphony by Robert Schumann (1810–1856) is a combination of romantic licence and classical form: the rhythms and melodies are allowed to go their own ways, but within a very strict framework. Instead of the usual four movements, this symphony has five; Schumann was possibly inspired here by the example of Beethoven’s Pastoral, which also has five. Both works also reflect the images conjured up in their composers’ minds by nature and certain landscapes. The second movement of the Rhenish, a Ländler dance with a gently rocking theme, was originally titled Morning on the Rhine.
Schumann had been impressed by the Rhine since taking up the post of director of music in the city of Düsseldorf in autumn 1850 and a visit soon after to another city on the river, Cologne. Sadly, he nevertheless soon began to suffer from depression and tried to commit suicide by drowning himself in the river. Though rescued on that occasion, he died in a mental asylum two years later.
Violin 1 Pekka Kauppinen | Flute Elina Raijas Jenny Villanen Oboe Hannu Perttilä Nils Rõõmussaar Paula Malmivaara Clarinet Osmo Linkola Harri Mäki Bassoon Mikko-Pekka Svala Noora Van Dok Horn Mika Paajanen Miska Miettunen Jonathan Nikkinen Sam Parkkonen Trumpet Pasi Pirinen Mika Tuomisalo Trombone Valtteri Malmivirta Anu Fagerström Joni Taskinen Timpani Tomi Wikström |
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.
