Can’t make it to the concert? Let the concert come to you! Watch a live broadcast or recording.
You can now watch and listen to HPO concerts in the comfort of your very own armchair, streamed online.
The pre-concert talk (in Finnish) will help to put you in the mood. During the interval you can also meet more interesting people and hear what goes on behind the scenes.
The Beethoven concerts recorded by conductor Gianandrea Noseda and the BBC Philharmonic attracted a record 1.4 million downloads in the space of just one week back in 2005. Noseda has a reputation as a conductor whose radical interpretations force listeners to reassess familiar classics both spiritually and emotionally. The programme for his concert in Helsinki is certainly enticing, as he will be making his Bruckner debut. The concert begins with Luigi Dallapiccola’s breakthrough Partita, the setting for which is a medieval Latin lullaby.
Falling in love can cause sleeplessness and weight loss – or the Symphonie fantastique. Tormented by the waves of passion, the Artist comes to life as Lélio in a piece that Berlioz composed as a sequel to his Symphonie fantastique. This is the first time that the two pieces, which the composer intended as a pair, will be performed together in Finland.
Frank Peter Zimmermann first performed Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto in 1988 at a concert commemorating the 50th anniversary of Crystal Night: ”Berg’s concerto is a requiem, a work of art, a small universe that gets under your skin. I never tire of playing it.” The premiere of a new piece by Kaija Saariaho arouses great curiosity: what direction is the internationally acclaimed composer moving in?
Take a philharmonic orchestra and two musicians from the East Coast of the USA who are not afraid to go over, under, through and right past musical barriers and commission a brand-new piece for all of them from one of the hottest contemporary composers in the world today. Superstars Esperanza Spalding and Claire Chase offer an evening overflowing with stage charisma and street credibility. The new composition by Felipe Lara has been commissioned jointly by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic and is being premiered in Helsinki.
”If I had the time, I would reorchestrate La Mer.” Maurice Ravel was a brashly self-confident musician – and for good reason. His arrangement of Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition wraps the listener in an acoustic whirlwind that is worth experiencing on a regular basis. Nino Rota’s Divertimento comprises music originally intended for Fellini’s film Amarcord and is performed here by Esko Laine, who has played with the Berliner Philharmoniker for over 30 years.
After a night of celebrating May Day and a traditiona herring breakfast, revive yourself with the music of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. Our May Day Matinees have entertained locals with waltzes, tangos, gallops, schlagers and marches since 1883. This year Helena Juntunen and Tuomas Katajala perform delightful Italian-inspired opera melodies that are full of honey sunlight!
Mezzo-soprano Anne-Sofie von Otter, who was appointed Court Singer by the King of Sweden in 1995, sings all the tones in the dark colour scale of Alexander Zemlinsky: female figures portrayed in an early-20th-century symbolic catalogue, dark evenings, walls, gates, shadows. At the beginning of the concert we find out which Finnish composition Kimmo Hakola has chosen as the inspiration for his Helsinki Variation.
Tchaikovsky travelled with his brother Modest to Rome in 1880 and was inspired by the city’s soundscape: the carnivals, the animated locals, even the fanfare of the cavalry that could be heard through his hotel window in the morning. It is very possible that the composer admired the same fountains that inspired Ottorino Respighi to compose his tone poem a few decades later.
The cornerstone of Gemma New's debut with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra is Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5, a bright song of praise to a free and happy person.
It has been a hundred years since Sibelius’s Humoresques were first performed and 150 years since the birth of Armas Järnefelt.
What connects the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and local music students? Junior Concert, of course! This year there is even more cause for celebration, as it marks the 10th time this fun concert takes place.
”Veli Kujala performs magic tricks for a hobby. This can perhaps be heard in his music,” says violinist Eriikka Maalismaa, describing the musical language of this evening’s debuting composer.
”For me, composition consists of the enchantment of the audience through sound,” says Peter Eötvös, who will be conducting the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra for the first time. One of the most noteworthy composers of our day, Eötvös went to study under Zoltán Kodály at the age of 14 and continues in his footsteps as a composer, conductor and teacher. Commissioned by the four biggest orchestras in Italy, Alle vittime senza nome reflects the refugee crisis – the anonymous passengers crowded onto boats and at the mercy of the waves.
Born 250 years ago this year, Napoleon is remembered with imperial pieces and a musical reaction to tyranny. Schönberg’s Ode to Napoleon was his statement of support for the forces fighting Hitler. The composer insisted that the singer must have ”the number of shades, essential to express one hundred and seventy kinds of derision, sarcasm, hatred, ridicule, contempt, condemnation, etc., which I tried to portray in my music.” Elisabeth Leonskaja is a piano legend whose devoted fans follow her achievements from one concert and country to another.
No grand gestures or competitive glory, just quiet power, dignity and clean piano playing. Nelson Freire made his debut in 1944 at the age of just four and is one of the greatest pianists of his generation. The premiere of a new piece by Lotta Wennäkoski will also have audience members listening intently. The work is the first in a series of Helsinki Variations commissioned for the Finland 100 centenary year, in which six composers were invited to choose a Finnish composition from before 1945 as a source of inspiration.
The concert season begins with a message by the vocal ensemble EXAUDI from the source of our musical heritage and the heart of Italian vocal polyphony.
“Thus Fate knocks at the door” is how Beethoven described the theme of his Symphony No. 5, without which the history of music would sound quite different. Akiko Suwanai in turn performs a violin concerto that earned her fame in 1990 as the youngest ever winner of the International Tchaikovsky Competition.
Shostakovich’s dark symphony was rejected by censors, Gershwin’s piano concerto is sizzling with the excitement of Broadway stages.
Sergei Prokofiev’s symphonic fairy tale for children has familiarised young audiences with orchestral instruments from one generation to the next.
A mystic tension permeates Jonathan Harvey’s Messages, in which the choir recites mythological angel names, leading listeners on an ethereal journey across seven heavens.
Your ears will be in for a surprise as the Musica nova Helsinki festival once again presents the latest in contemporary music alongside established classics. Bryce Dessner, guitarist of The National, composed his piano concerto for the evening’s two sibling soloists. Also being performed in Finland for the first time will be Metacosmos, which was commissioned for the New York Philharmonic, and the rhythmic De Snelheid. The opening concert of the festival culminates with Delta, a composition by Jay Schwartz that explores the dimensions of sounds.
The ode to universal friendship ends our autumn season in traditional fashion. The excitement of one of the most popular concerts of the year is ensured by top Finnish soloists together with the Helsinki Music Centre Choir. Eva Ollikainen will be conducting the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra for the first time.
The Unanswered Question of Charles Ives and the Enigma Variations of Edward Elgar operate in the realm of great secrets. The violin concerto of composer-DJ Mason Bates combines club sounds with symphonic music. It shares one thing in common with Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Fantasy: both were composed especially for Anne Akiko Meyers.
We celebrate Finnish Music Day with an international atmosphere.
Aaron Copland originally composed his rustic ode to the simple life of American settlers for choreographer Martha Graham in the form of ballet music. With his reputation for deep interpretations, Paavali Jumppanen takes the audience on a voyage of discovery to an early piano concerto by Brahms. The concert opens with a new composition by Sean Shepherd, in which abstract paintings are given musical form.
Igor Stravinsky had already established a reputation as a young composer to watch with his gently controversial pieces, but The Rite of Spring was a step too far for Parisian audiences. The debut performance in 1913 met with much shouting and indignation. Even though the scandal surrounding the composition has subdued over the years, it remains as powerful as ever.
Concert Piece for Four Horns and Elgar’s Symphony No. 2 for the first time, this is a concert of true rarities.
Duke Ellington’s swing is brought to life as the UMO Jazz Orchestra and Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra join forces once again. The programme includes the classic album Symphonic Ellington and its iconic musical description of Harlem. Antti Rissanen conducts the orchestras as they take on familiar and fresher arrangements of the music of the jazz giant.
Helsinki Philharmonic & Susanna Mälkki & Kirill Gerstein
Béla Bartók - Konsertto orkesterille
Edward Elgar - Sellokonsertto
Iiro Rantalan uudet sävellykset Timo Parvelan Ella ja kaverit -kirjaan
Helsinki-päivän konsertti 12.6. 2013
Yhteislaulukonsertti Musiikkitalosta
Friedrich Cerha - Sellokonsertto
Taiteilijatapaamisessa konserttimestari Pekka Kauppinen
Truls Mørk talks about his work as musician
Kirill Gerstein choosing a piano in Musiikkitalo
Oboisti Jussi Jaatinen kertoo työstään
Kuusivuotias Frida ja viulisti Maiju Kauppinen tapasivat ja juttelivat soittamisesta ja unelmista.
Timo Virtanen ja Sibeliuksen toisen sinfonian partituurit
Béla Bartók - Konsertto orkesterille
Edward Elgar - Sellokonsertto
Friedrich Cerha - Sellokonsertto
Konserttitallenteita, haastatteluja, takahuonetunnelmia.
Keskusteluja musiikista
Konserttitallenteita, haastatteluja, takahuonetunnelmia.
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