Programme Notes | Janine Jansen plays Sibelius

Programme notes

Janine Jansen plays Sibelius Thu 7 December 2023 • 20.15 Fri 8 December 2023 • 20.15 Sun 10 December 2023 • 14.15

PROGRAMME conductor Lahav Shani violin Janine Jansen Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47 (1903–04/1905) • Allegro moderato • Adagio di molto • Allegro, ma non tanto Arvo Pärt (1935) Swansong (2013) Intermission Claude Debussy (1862-1918) La mer, three symphonic sketches for orchestra (1903–05) • De l’aube à midi sur la mer • Jeux de vagues • Dialogue du vent et de la mer Concert ends at around 22.00/16.00

Most recent performances by our orchestra: Sibelius Violin Concerto: Nov 2019, violin Baiba Skride, conductor Jukka-Pekka Saraste Pärt Swansong: first performance Debussy La mer: Sep 2019, conductor Valery Gergiev One hour before the start of the concert, Remko de Jager will give an introduction (in Dutch) to the programme, admission €5. Tickets are available at the hall, payment by debit card. The introduction is free for Vrienden.

Cover: Foto Francesca Grima.

These pages: The big wave of Kanagawa. Woodcut by Katsushika Hokusai (c. 1830–31), a major source of inspiration for Debussy’s La mer.

Jean Sibelius, 1905. Photo coll.

Turku Museum.

The Force of Water This concert programme conjures up images of vast lakes and wild seas. In his Violin Concerto, Sibelius paints the reflections on still water, whilst Debussy’s La mer depicts a wild and swirling surf. The link that connects these two water worlds is the swan of Arvo Pärt’s undulating Swansong.

The beauty of Finland’s nature

When Jean Sibelius began to learn the violin, he had one goal in mind: to become an accomplished soloist. With a view over the lake near Aulanko, around a hundred kilometres north of Helsinki, he studied all day long, determined to achieve his ambition.

Such dedication did not pay off. Sibelius did not start to learn the violin until the age of eleven, and only took it seriously at age fifteen, much too late to lead to a career as a soloist. An accident that resulted in a broken elbow, meaning that he was unable to use the full extent of his bow, obviously did not help.

His playing was not without merit; in fact it was rather good. But it would never have got him to the top.

So instead, he began to compose. And soon he was achieving the success that had evaded him as a violinist. In particular, his Karelia Suite (1893) and Finlandia (1899/1900) gained immediate popularity. It was not entirely coincidental that these pieces had his homeland of Finland as their theme, at a time when – as a grand duchy – it was ruled over

by the Russian Tsar. Sibelius gave Finland a sound, its own voice. And the Finns repaid him with gratitude.

In his Violin Concerto, begun in 1903, Sibelius united all those elements that were so close to his heart: the violin, Finland, and nature. A guarantee of success, one might think. However, the premiere was a disaster.

Part of the blame probably lay with the rather mediocre violinist who gave the first performance: the intended star soloist Willy Burmester had been unavailable on the date on which the composer had insisted – due to financial problems – the performance should go ahead. And perhaps Sibelius’s temperamental character and regular recourse to alcohol also played their part. One critic labelled the work downright boring. An exasperated Sibelius withdrew the work and left it gathering dust for more than a year.

Fortunately, however, he saw the potential of the concerto and in 1905 returned to work on it. He chiselled away, filed and polished it, until he was left with a more refined and balanced version of the original piece. This time, the premiere – conducted by Richard Strauss, and with the concert master of his orchestra as soloist – was a resounding success. And naturally so. Because the dissonant voice of the solo violin and the icy sound of the orchestra’s string section open out into a wonderful interplay between violin and orchestra, which are very well matched.

Who could not fall for the vast lakes and green forests as depicted by Sibelius, with their mix of melancholy and joy?

Swansong

We associate the far North not just with the lakes and forests of Sibelius’s music, but also with white icy plains. The latter is perfectly represented by the music of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt: a minimalist sound laid even more bare than that of American fellow minimalists such as Philip Glass and John Adams. Despite, or precisely because of, the minimum resources he deploys, Pärt manages to create even greater depth. The result is a musical style that is often described as a ‘religious experience’.

Although the climax to his Swansong suggests a rare nod by Pärt to Hollywood, this work also conveys a tranquil beauty. The cor anglais solo at the beginning calls to mind Sibelius’s symphonic poem The Swan of Tuonela. And the music undulates like the waves on the sea. It is a comforting, lilting sound, giving Swansong a feeling of safety and security. The piece is not Pärt’s metaphorical ‘swan song’ (ten years after composing this work, he is still amongst us), but it is about attaining inner tranquillity. The music is an expression of the prayer Wisdom and Innocence by Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890) for ‘a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last’.

Pärt composed the work in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of the Cardinal, who was beatified in 2010 and declared a saint in 2019.

Impressions of the sea

The staid teachers at the conservatoire found Claude Debussy to be a nuisance, because he failed to follow their instructions. Not because he did not understand them – he had a very sharp mind – but simply because he did not think ‘because I say so’ was a good enough reason. And so, he piled one musical sin on

top of another, leading him to become one of the greatest innovators of western music.

Debussy would create musical impressionism.

In common with impressionist painters, he understood the art of creating images with his music as though seen through half-closed eyes.

Nevertheless, he did not like the comparisons with the impressionist painters, and his composition methods were different from their

Debussy piled one musical sin on top of another, leading him to become one of the greatest innovators of western music. painting methods. Whereas the artists took their easels outdoors to translate their impressions of nature into paint on paper or canvas, Debussy composed his ‘seascape’ far from the coast.

‘You will say that there’s no danger of the ocean crashing over Burgundy anytime soon…! And that the style of my work very much resembles the sketches from an artist’s studio!’ Yet Debussy did succeed in capturing within this impressionistic masterpiece the sea in all its moods. In the first of the three parts, De l’aube à midi sur la mer, he paints the glittering calm on the surface of the sea, and the vistas that draw our thoughts to far-away places (Debussy conveys warmth through Eastern sounds). In Jeux de vagues the waves are youthfully playful and warm. In the Dialogue du vent et de la mer we hear the howling wind and roaring waves; Debussy makes us feel the sea as a dangerous lover, not to be treated lightly.

Alexander Klapwijk

Lahav Shani • chief conductor Born: Tel Aviv, Israel Current position: chief conductor Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra; music director Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Before: principal guest conductor Vienna Symphony Orchestra Education: piano at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music Tel Aviv; conducting and piano at the Academy of Music Hanns Eisler Berlin; mentor: Daniel Barenboim Breakthrough: 2013, after winning the Gustav Mahler International Conducting Competition in Bamberg Subsequently: Staatskapelle Berlin, Berlin State Opera, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Debut Rotterdam Philharmonic: 2016

Photo: Marco Borggreve

Photo: Marco Borggreve

Janine Jansen • violin Born: Soest, the Netherlands Education: with Coosje Wijzenbeek; Utrecht Conservatory with Philipp Hirshhorn and Boris Belkin Awards: Dutch Music Award (2003); VSCD Classical Music Award (2008); Concertgebouw Award (2013); Johannes Vermeer Award (2018) Solo appearances with: Berliner Philharmoniker, Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, NHK Symphony, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, New York Philharmonic Orchestra Chamber music partners: Leif Ove Andsnes, Martha Argerich, Martin Fröst, Alexander Gavrylyuk, Denis Kozhukin, Mischa Maisky, Julian Rachlin Chamber Music Festival Utrecht: founder and artistic director (2003-2016); since 2019 artistic advisor Professor: HÉMU Valais, Sion; Kronberg Academy Instrument: ‘Shumsky-Rode’-Stradivarius from 1715 Debut Rotterdam Philharmonic: 1999

Musicians

Agenda Fri 15 December 2023 • 20.15 Sun 17 December 2023 • 14.15 conductor Andrew Manze soprano Carolyn Sampson mezzosoprano Marianne Beate Kielland tenor Daniel Behle bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni chorus Groot Omroepkoor Vaughan Williams Serenade to Music Rijnvos Europe (commission, World Premiere) Beethoven Symphony No.9 Proms: Christmas Classics Fri 22 December 2023 • 20.30 Sat 23 December 2023 • 20.30 Sun 24 December 2023 • 14.15 conductor Adam Hickox Prokofiev Lieutenant Kijé: Troika Humperdinck Hänsel und Gretel – selection Rossini Overture La Cenerentola Ravel Ma mère l’oye – selection Tchaikovsky The Nutcracker: Suite No.1 Thu 11 January 2024 • 20.15 Sun 14 January 2024 • 14.15 conductor Kristiina Poska soprano Chen Reiss Mozart Overture ‘Die Zauberflöte’ Mozart Arias Beijer Waltz for orchestra (commission, world premiere) J. Strauss jr. An der schönen blauen Donau Lehár Songs Dvořák Slavonic Dances (selection) Concert for Ukraine Sat 13 January 2024 • 20.15 conductor Olha Dondyk piano Antonii Baryshevskyi piano Anna Fedorova Lunyov Libera me for String Orchestra Silvestrov Epitaph Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2

Viola Clarinet Anne Huser Julien Hervé Roman Spitzer Bruno Bonansea Galahad Samson Honorary Clarinet/ José Moura Nunes Conductor Bass Clarinet Yannick Nézet-Séguin Kerstin Bonk Romke-Jan Wijmenga Lex Prummel Janine Baller Principal Guest Bassoon Francis Saunders Conductor Veronika Lénártová Pieter Nuytten Tarmo Peltokoski Lola Descours Rosalinde Kluck Marianne Prommel León van den Berg First Violin Marieke Blankestijn, Olfje van der Klein Bassoon/ concertmeester Contrabassoon Cello Quirine Scheffers Hans Wisse Hed Yaron Meyerson Emanuele Silvestri Eugene Lifschitz Saskia Otto Horn Joanna Pachucka Arno Bons David Fernández Alonso Mireille van der Wart Daniel Petrovitsch Felipe Santos Freitas Silva Mario Rio Rachel Browne Wendy Leliveld Gé van Leeuwen Maria Dingjan Richard Speetjens Marie-José Schrijner Eelco Beinema Laurens Otto Carla Schrijner Noëmi Bodden Pierre Buizer Pepijn Meeuws Petra Visser Yi-Ting Fang Sophia Torrenga Trumpet Hadewijch Hofland Alex Elia Double Bass Annerien Stuker Simon Wierenga Matthew Midgley Alexandra van Jos Verspagen Ying Lai Green Beveren Jonathan Focquaert Robert Franenberg Trombone Second Violin Pierre Volders Charlotte Potgieter Harke Wiersma Alexander Verbeek Arjen Leendertz Cecilia Ziano Remko de Jager Ricardo Neto Frank de Groot Laurens van Vliet Bass trombone Flute Tomoko Hara Rommert Groenhof Juliette Hurel Elina Staphorsius Joséphine Olech Jun Yi Dou Désirée Woudenberg Tuba Bob Bruyn Hendrik-Jan Renes Eefje Habraken Flute/piccolo Maija Reinikainen Percussion Beatriz Da Baião Wim Ruitenbeek Danny van de Wal Babette van den Berg Ronald Ent Oboe Melanie Broers Martijn Boom Remco de Vries Lana Trimmer Adriaan Feyaerts Karel Schoofs Anja van der Maten Harp Oboe/Cor Anglais Charlotte Sprenkels Ron Tijhuis Chief Conductor Lahav Shani