Sat 27.5.2017 at 19
Music House, concert hall
Olari Elts, conductor
Karita Mattila, soprano
Karita Mattila shot to international fame after winning the Cardiff Song Contest in 1983, when Avanti! was also founded. The musical phenomena of the boom have crossed paths ever since. In May, Mattila and Avanti, led by Olari Elts, will join forces at Helsinki’s Helsinki Music Centre in a concert supported by the Pro Musica Foundation, premiering a new work for orchestra by Lauri Kilpiö, commissioned by the Foundation.
“The sonic characters in my upcoming orchestral piece are mainly sounds and textures, sometimes built up from non-compositional noise. However, my work is not sound art, but motivic music. This means that the piece is based on a limited set of recognisable and strong musical characters, which are repeated, developed, transformed and juxtaposed in different ways during the composition. I also want my music to be long, intense and, at certain key points, strongly culminating. These are all, in fact, symphonic qualities in music. So perhaps you could say that I try to make music that is symphonic in nature, without melodic themes.
Is my orchestral work a symphony then? I don’t know yet, maybe not, let’s see. But does this question really matter?”-Lauri Kilpiö
The concert opens with 4’33” by John Cage , considered a classic example of non-musical or conceptual music. After the premiere, the concert continues with songs by the luminous soprano Karita Mattila, which play on the many notes of love: longing, betrayal, romance and happiness. French singer Henri Duparc’s songs are distinguished by a subtle longing and sensuality. Sibelius and Runeberg glorify young love in the song Flickan kom ifrån sin älsklings möte, in which a girl is betrayed. In the Rydberg song På verandan vid havet, the tense silence expresses a yearning for eternity, while in the Runeberg song Våren flyktar hastigt, the mere memory of spring encourages love.
Relationship bliss can also be heard in Robert Schumann’s concluding four-movement symphony “Spring”, in which the newly married composer finds romantic omens in the season.
NOTE! The concert programme has changed, the information has been updated on 23.1. and 12.4.
PROGRAMME:
John Cage: 4’33”
Lauri Kilpiö: new work
Henri Duparc:
L’invitation au voyage (Charles Baudelaire)
Chanson triste (Jean Lahore)
Phidylé (Leconte de Lisle)
Jean Sibelius:
På verandan vid havet op. 38/2 (Viktor Rydberg)
Flickan kom från sin älsklings mote op. 37/5 (Johan Ludvig Runeberg)
Våren flyktar hastigt op. 13/4 (Johan Ludvig Runeberg)
Robert Schumann: Symphony No 1 in B flat major op. 38, “Spring”
Andante un poco maestoso – Allegro molto vivace
Larghetto
Scherzo (Molto vivace)
Allegro animato e grazioso
The concert is supported by the Pro Musica Foundation.
Tickets including delivery costs 59,00 – 22,50 € www.ticketmaster.fi or 55 – 20 € at the Musiikkitalo ticket office.
