RISING THIRDS / STIGANDE TERSER
Sunday 18 June, 11:00
Ulriksdal Palace Theatre Confidencen
Artists
CHRISTOFFER SUNDQVIST clarinet
KASMIR UUSITUPA violin
ISTVÁN VÁRDAI cello
ALASDAIR BEATSON piano
Programme
Johann Sebastian Bach ‘Aria’ from Goldberg Variations BWV 988
Johannes Brahms Clarinet Trio in A Minor Op. 114
Allegro
Adagio
Andantino grazioso – Trio
Allegro
Arvo Pärt Spiegel im Spiegel
Johann Sebastian Bach Ricercar à 6
/arr. Iain Farrington
Price 190 kr
Student Ticket 50 kr
Festival Pass 1650 kr
20% discount for Friends
How many people know that there was a moment in the Middle Ages when England – not famed for its musical innovation! – made an epoch-changing contribution to western music? Medieval English composers fondly cultivated the interval of the third (the hop from doh to mi in the sol-fa system) – a vogue that culminated in a style known as the Contenance angloise (the ‘English manner’). With the rising thirds of Brahms’s Clarinet Trio in A Minor as its centrepiece, the first of two concerts devoted to musical thirds also features heavenward journeys by Bach and the endless ascent into the infinite enountered in Arvo Pärt’s breathtaking Spiegel im Spiegel.
Hur många vet att det fanns en tid under medeltiden då England – som inte direkt är känt för sina musikaliska innovationer – gav ett epokförändrande bidrag till den västerländska musiken? De medeltida engelska kompositörerna ägnade sig nämligen åt att förädla tersen (hoppet från do till mi i sol-fa-systemet) – vilket kulminerade i en stil som kallas Contenance angloise (den ”engelska stilen”). Den första av två konserter tillägnade tersen har de stigande terserna i Brahms klarinettrio i a-moll som mittpunkt, omgärdat av Bachs musikaliska offergåvor och Arvo Pärts hissnande, oavbrutna uppstigning i oändligheten i Spiegel im Spiegel.
Christoffer Sundqvist, who was born in Stockholm, moved to Finland at the age of six and began his clarinet studies at the Jakobstad Conservatory with Bernhard Nylund. Alongside his outstanding performances of classical repertoire, he is an ambassador for contemporary Nordic music. Composers including Magnus Lindberg, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Aulis Sallinen and Sebastian Fagerlund have written more than twenty works for him. Christoffer has appeared as soloist with orchestras across Europe. A passionate chamber musician, he is co-founder of the brass quintet Arktinen Hysteria and a long-term member of the Plus Ensemble, based in Turku. Christoffer collaborates regularly with Pekka Kuusisto, Hugo Ticciati, Angela Hewitt, Oliver Triendl and Niek de Groot. Since 2013 he has been Artistic Director of the Jakobstad Sinfonietta and Rusk Chamber Music Festival in Jakobstad. His discography includes releases on BIS, Alba and Ondine Records, many of which have been awarded Emma prizes.
Scottish pianist Alasdair Beatson works prolifically as soloist and chamber musician. Highlights of the 2018/19 season include appearances at Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, Aldeburgh, Resonances and Ernen festivals, two appearances in the Time Unwrapped series at Kings Place, and collaborations with Adrian Brendel, Steven Isserlis, Viktoria Mullova, Pieter Wispelwey, the Doric String Quartet, the Gringolts Quartet and the Nash Ensemble among many. Throughout the season he is Chamber Pianist in Residence at Sage Gateshead.
Alasdair is renowned as a sincere musician and intrepid programmer. Alongside a particular affinity with the classical repertoire and the music of Schumann and Fauré, he often explores the more exotic: Catoire, Pierné, Thuille; Debussy’s Jeux (in the composer’s arrangement for solo piano); Ligeti Horn Trio, Thomas Adès Piano Quintet; and piano trio arrangements of Debussy’s La Mer, Janacek’s Kreutzer Sonata, Shostakovich’s 15th Symphony (with 3 percussionists) and Schönberg’s Verklärte Nacht. His concerto repertoire includes works of Bach, Bartok, Fauré, Hans Abrahamsen, Hindemith, Mozart, Sally Beamish, Stravinsky, Messiaen, appearing in recent years with Britten Sinfonia, Moscow Virtuosi, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Ensemble, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Sønderjyllands Symphony Orchestra and Tapiola Sinfonietta.
2017 saw the release on BIS of a recording with Alec Frank-Gemmill of 19th century music for horn and piano, recorded on four exquisite historical pianos (and four fantastical historical horns) spanning 1815 - 1895. This release joins an acclaimed discography of three solo and numerous chamber recordings, on BIS, Claves, Champs Hill, Evil Penguin and SOMM labels.
A regular participant at the open chamber music at IMS Prussia Cove, Alasdair took part in their tours of 2007 and 2011, and collected the 2008 RPS Award for Chamber Music on their behalf. He has enjoyed working closely with composers George Benjamin, Harrison Birtwistle, Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Heinz Holliger and Helena Winkelman.
A former student of John Blakely and Menahem Pressler, Alasdair is increasingly drawn to education, teaching annually on the Musicworks summer courses, as a regular mentor at London's Chamber Studio, and maintaining a class of solo pianists at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. Alasdair is founder and artistic director of the French chamber music festival Musique à Marsac, and from 2019 a co-artistic director of the chamber music festival in Ernen, Switzerland.
“His playing was commendable for its fluidity and virtuosity, distinguished by both a fleet-fingered lightness and a rich timbre” (Vivien Schweitzer, The New York Times)
István Várdai is highly regarded for his joyous energy, rhythmic vigour and elegant grace in his soulful renditions of solo, chamber music and orchestral repertoire for cello. In his third season as Artistic Director of Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, he continues to present inspiring and creative programmes. Alongside this, István welcomes world-renowned musicians at the Kapostfest Chamber Music Festival in Hungary, which he co-curates with violinist Kristóf Baráti, and continues his soloist career with leading orchestras performing repertoire from Bach to Péter Eötvös.
As a passionate chamber musician, he has performed with Vikingur Olaffson, András Schiff, Yuri Bashmet, Gidon Kremer, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Mischa Maisky, Elisabeth Leonskaja and Liza Ferschtman at some of the world’s leading venues. In June 2023, he will play with Hugo Ticciati, Christoffer Sundqvist, Alasdair Beatson in variety of chamber music and orchestral programmes as part of O/Modernt’s Summer Festival in Stockholm.
Kasmir Uusitupa is one of the most versatile violinists from the new finnish generation. He has studied intensively orchestral and string quartet playing from an early age. He has diverse experience of performing different genres, also with different instruments. His interest in other styles has been there since the beginning, as playing folk music with his family was a major influence on his development as a musician. Uusitupa’s forte is in chamber music, especially in the role of a leader. Therefore he is regularly asked to perform in chamber music festivals as well as to substitute concertmaster positions in major Finnish orchestras. He has appeared often as a soloist ever since his school years. The quick cancellations during covid times showed that he is ready to jump in the role of a soloist even on extremely short notice. Uusitupa has also reinforced his musicianship by studying conducting. Kasmir Uusitupa plays an Italian Spiritus Sorsana violin (~1700), kindly on loan from the Finnish Cultural Foundation.
FALLING THIRDS / FALLANDE TERSER
Sunday 18 June, 19:00
Ulriksdal Palace Theatre Confidencen
Artists
CHRISTOFFER SUNDQVIST clarinet
ALEXANDER MELNIKOV piano
HUGO TICCIATI conductor
O/MODERNT CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
Programme
Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) Seven Fantasies Op. 116
Capriccio in D minor
Intermezzo in A Minor
Capriccio in G Minor
Intermezzo in E Major
Intermezzo in E Minor
Intermezzo in E Major
Capriccio in D Minor
Johannes Brahms Clarinet Sonata in F Minor Op. 120
Allegro appassionato
Andante un poco adagio
Allegretto grazioso
Vivace
Interval
Johannes Brahms Symphony No. 4 in E Minor Op. 98
Allegro non troppo
Andante moderato
Allegro giocoso
Allegro energico e passionate
Price 350 kr
Student Ticket 50 kr
Festival Pass 1650 kr
20% discount for Friends
The warmth and generosity so often associated with Brahms’s music are due in no small measure to the composer’s love of musical thirds. Delighting in their sweetness, Brahms often extended them into chains of thirds, as can be heard in the falling garlands that grace the works in this concert. Following two celebrated chamber pieces (the Seven Fantasies and the Clarinet Sonata in F Minor), the performance is crowned with Brahms’s magnificent Fourth Symphony – the most fitting conclusion to this year’s celebration of a composer whose musical textures are as fresh and inspirational today as they were when he first revealed them to the world.
Den värme och generositet som så ofta förknippas med Brahms musik beror till stor del på kompositörens kärlek till tersen. Brahms charmerades av dess ljuvliga toner och knöt ofta samman dem till kedjor, som hörs i de fallande girlanger som pryder verken i aftonens konsert. Konserten inleds med två berömda kammarverk (de sju fantasierna och klarinettsonaten i f-moll) och kröns av Brahms magnifika fjärde symfoni – den mest passande avslutningen på årets hyllning till en tonsättare vars musikaliska texturer är lika fräscha och inspirerande i dag som de var när han för första lät världen höra dem.
As violinist, leader and conductor, Hugo Ticciati imbibes all possible forms of creativity, whether it be performing world premieres in the most prestigious venues around the world, improvising with monks in India, or devising innovative programmes for O/Modernt Orchestra and Festival which he founded in 2011. Alongside his passion to discover and learn from the music of previous epochs and non-western traditions, Hugo embraces the world of contemporary music. To date, over forty works have been written for and dedicated to him by a host of eminent composers, including Erkki-Sven Tüür, Pēteris Vasks, Victoria Borisova-Ollas, Albert Schnelzer and Dobrinka Tabakova.
As the Artistic Director of his own O/Modernt Orchestra, and Artistic Partner with Manchester Camerata, Hugo collaborates regularly with Kremerata Baltica, Basel Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra and Orchestra da Camera di Perugia. Most recently, he has been invited to work with Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra and Vienna Chamber Orchestra.
Gaining a growing reputation for his innovative and adventurous programming, Hugo is frequently asked to devise and present concerts and festivals with a unique twist. This has led to ongoing collaborations with Wigmore Hall and Kings Place in London. Pursuing his passion for chamber music, Hugo has developed special artistic partnerships with members of the O/Modernt Soloists as well as other internationally renowned artists, notably Evelyn Glennie, Anne Sofie von Otter, Nils Landgren, Steven Isserlis, Angela Hewitt and Olli Mustonen.
Hugo frequently gives master-classes and lectures on music-related subjects both at Scandinavia’s leading specialist music school Lilla Akademien, where he holds the post of Deputy Artistic Director, and other educational institutions around the world.
Directed by violinist Hugo Ticciati, the O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra is an integral part of O/Modernt. Comprised of top players from all over Europe, the orchestra performs eclectic and adventurous programmes, with anything from arrangements of medieval motets to Bach, Webern and Metallica. The orchestra regularly collaborates with world-renowned soloists such as Evelyn Glennie, Steven Isserlis, Anne Sofie von Otter and Nils Landgren, as well as jazz artists, rappers, choreographers, rock-balancers and more!
Over the last decade, the orchestra has gained an international reputation, with critically-acclaimed performances at the Wigmore Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, Wiener Musikverein and Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ, Amsterdam. Recent and upcoming highlights include concerts in Kölner Philharmonie, Elbphilharmonie, Berwaldhallen, Kings Place and Lithuanian National Philharmonic Hall. The O/Modernt players enjoy a wide range of outreach and educational projects in Sweden, the UK and further afield in India.
Festival 2022
Violins
CLARA BJERHAG
LUCA BOGNÁR
LAIA BRAUN
GABRIEL CORNET
XENIA GEUGELIN
JULIJA IVANOVAITÉ
ISKANDAR KOMILOV
SOFIA KORTELAINEN
MIRIAM LILJIFORS
LAURA LUNANSKY
JOHANNES MARMÉN
VICKY SAYLES
LIANA SVENSSON
HUGO TICCIATI
OSCAR TREITLER
Violas
JENNY AUGUSTINSSON
BRYONY GIBSON-CORNISH
FLORIAN HUBER
PRZEMYSŁAW PUJANEK
FRAUKE STEICHERT
HUGO SVENSSON
Cellos
JULIAN ARP
HEDVIG BENGSTON
REBECKA ERICSSON
CLAUDE FROCHAUX
EDWARD KING
SINÉAD O’HALLORAN
Double Basses
JORDI CARRASCO HJELM
JAKUB BECERRA PIETRYKA
BENJAMIN ZIAI
Oboe
HANNES HEINEMANN
INKEN MENCK
SIOBHAN PARKER
Bassoon
JONATHAN BAUER
ANDERS ENGSTRÖM
Horn
ANNA FERRIOL DE CIURANA
BJÖRN OLSSON
EELIS MALMIVIRTAV
Theorb
KARL NYHLIN
Christoffer Sundqvist, who was born in Stockholm, moved to Finland at the age of six and began his clarinet studies at the Jakobstad Conservatory with Bernhard Nylund. Alongside his outstanding performances of classical repertoire, he is an ambassador for contemporary Nordic music. Composers including Magnus Lindberg, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Aulis Sallinen and Sebastian Fagerlund have written more than twenty works for him. Christoffer has appeared as soloist with orchestras across Europe. A passionate chamber musician, he is co-founder of the brass quintet Arktinen Hysteria and a long-term member of the Plus Ensemble, based in Turku. Christoffer collaborates regularly with Pekka Kuusisto, Hugo Ticciati, Angela Hewitt, Oliver Triendl and Niek de Groot. Since 2013 he has been Artistic Director of the Jakobstad Sinfonietta and Rusk Chamber Music Festival in Jakobstad. His discography includes releases on BIS, Alba and Ondine Records, many of which have been awarded Emma prizes.
Alexander Melnikov completed his studies at the Moscow Conservatory under Lev Naumov. His most formative musical moments in Moscow include an early encounter with Svjatoslav Richter, who thereafter regularly invited him to festivals in Russia and France. He was awarded prizes at eminent competitions such as the International Robert Schumann Competition in Zwickau (1989) and the Concours Musical Reine Elisabeth in Brussels (1991). Known for his often unusual musical and programmatic decisions, he performs regularly with distinguished period ensembles including the Freiburger Barockorchester, Musica Aeterna and Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin. As a soloist, Alexander Melnikov has performed in a number of renowned concert halls, and has an impressive discography, including his recording of Preludes and Fugues by Shostakovich, named by the BBC Music Magazine as one of the "50 Greatest Recordings of All Time." Furthermore he is an active chamber musician, working regularly with various partners such as Isabelle Faust, Sol Gabetta or Jean-Guihen Queyras.
