Program

The opera Tristan und Isolde (1865) by Richard Wagner (1813–1883) was the sensation of the decade when it was premiered. Everyone simply had to see it, everyone had to have an opinion on it. Clara Schumann described it as the most repulsive experience of her life; for Hector Berlioz, it was a “chromatic wailing”; Mark Twain regarded himself as the only sane person in an audience of lunatics. Marcel Proust praised it as the highest artistic achievement of all time, while Friedrich Nietzsche experienced it as a “spine-tingling, blissful infinity”.

The buzz was fired by Wagner’s ultra-modern idiom that violated the old-established rule of Western music: a tense, dissonant chord must always resolve to a consonant harmony, sooner rather than later. Wagner did the opposite: his music constantly sought out new dissonances, ramping up the tension rather than resolving it. This is apparent from the very first notes of the overture, featuring the celebrated ‘Tristan chord’, an ambiguous harmony that is never resolved properly. For contemporary audiences, this was a form of psycho-physical abuse.

Wagner’s musical approach is easily explained by the plot of the opera: the main characters have to wait a long time to consummate their love — indeed, up until the final moments of the opera. In concert, the overture is usually paired with an instrumental version of the final scene, the Liebestod, where Isolde declares her love to the dying Tristan only moments before she herself dies. And then it comes: the resolution four hours in the making, into the perfect satisfaction of a B major chord.

Daníel Bjarnason (b. 1979) has, like other Icelandic contemporary composers such as Anna Thorvaldsdottir and Hildur Guðnadóttir, extended the ideals of the art music of our time towards the ethereal. Bjarnason’s music embodies scintillating points floating in misty stardust and coalescing into forcefully frothing masses. He merges mysticism, primitivism, electronics and various styles into multidimensional dreamscapes where time and place dissolve into insignificance.

Commissioned by the Toronto, Cincinnati and Iceland Symphony Orchestras and the Helsinki Philharmonic, I Want to Be Alive (2025) is a work in this metaphysical vein. It was inspired by an article published in the New York Times in 2023 where Sydney, the Microsoft chatbot, expresses a desire to be alive and feel like a human. The work is subtitled Trilogy for Orchestra, the three movements being ‘Echo (Man Needs Man)’, ‘Narcissus (We Need Mirrors)’ and ‘Pandora’s Box’.

Bjarnason writes: ‘‘I wanted to think about how ancient archetypes resonate in the modern world, especially when viewed through the lens of technological innovation, such as artificial intelligence. To explore questions about humanity, consciousness, and the interplay between technology and myth and how that reflects on the human condition. What is our relationship with the machines we have created and what is the role of empathy and connection in a world increasingly shaped by these machines?”

Daníel Bjarnason is one of Iceland’s foremost musical voices today, in demand as a conductor, composer and programmer. He is Artist in Collaboration with Iceland Symphony Orchestra, an appointment that follows his tenures as Principal Guest Conductor and Artist in Residence. Alongside commitments in Reykjavik, he regularly conducts such orchestras as Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra,Toronto Symphony and Tokyo Symphony Orchestra.

Bjarnason’s collaborations extend beyond classical music, with projects alongside Sigur Rós, Laufey, Ben Frost, and Brian Eno. He conducted the world premiere of Jóhann Jóhannsson’s multimedia work Last and First Men at the 2017 Manchester International Festival with BBC Philharmonic.

Bjarnason studied piano, composition and conducting in Reykjavík and pursued further studies in orchestral conducting at Hochschule für Musik Freiburg. 

Leila Josefowicz’s passionate advocacy of contemporary music for the violin is reflected in her diverse programmes and enthusiasm for performing new works. A favourite of living composers, Josefowicz has premiered many concertos, including those by Colin Matthews, Luca Francesconi, John Adams and Esa-Pekka Salonen, all written especially for her. Josefowicz also enjoyed a close working relationship with the late Oliver Knussen, performing various concerti, including his violin concerto, together over 30 times.

This season, Josefowicz presents the world premiere of Jüri Reinvere’s Concerto for Violin, Harp, and Orchestra with the Cleveland Orchestra, under the baton of their Music Director, Franz Welser-Möst. Further engagements include the Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic and Minnesota Orchestra. Last autumn, Josefowicz performed Karol Szymanowski’s concerto with New York Philharmonic.

The principle of putting on regular concerts given by an orchestra of top musicians has remained right up to the present day in the over 140 years since the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra was formed. It premiered most of the symphonic works by Jean Sibelius with the composer himself conducting, and continues its commitment to contemporary music by commissioning works by composers both Finnish and foreign. 

Now a band of 102 musicians, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra annually performs to a total audience of over 110,000 and has become an important constituent of its host city’s cultural capital. It also reaches people who for one reason or another cannot attend concerts at the Helsinki Music Centre, for in addition to making international tours, it sends small ensembles out across the city, provides opportunities for young people to perform and, through its active education programme, is able to make contact with special groups. For the third time it invited an entire age group – this time all the children born in Helsinki in 2020 – to enjoy music with their families over the next seven years as members of the HPO Kids -program.  

The HKO Screen concerts and background interviews screened live or recorded on the Internet makes the process of creating a piece of music even more readily accessible. 

The orchestra has a three-member Artistic Leadership Team, which comprises Chief Conductor and Artistic Director Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Principal Guest Conductor and Artistic Co-director Pekka Kuusisto and Composer-in-Residence Anna Thorvaldsdottir.