The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra opens the autumn season with a sinfonietta-sized ensemble. During the beginning of the autumn the HPO will have four longer than usual artistic periods, during which each concert will be repeated 3-4 times during the concert week at the Music Centre – and much asked for daytime concerts are introduced in the early afternoons.
The orchestra will only publicize the program for September and October at this time.
Conductors for these periods are the head conductor for HPO Susanna Mälkki and the international musical multitalents Nathalie Stutzmann and Pekka Kuusisto. As soloists HPO welcomes violinist Elina Vähälä and pianist Janne Mertanen. Sibelius’ rarely performed melodrama Wood-Nymph is recited by Rabbe Smedlund.
Chief conductor Mälkki expresses how she and the orchestra are looking forward to the start of the autumn season. ”We are, to say the least, impatient to get back to playing together and to welcome the audience back into the Music Centre. At the beginning of the autumn HPO goes back to its roots by playing with a smaller than usual ensemble – and Kajanus’ original orchestra had 36 musicians. We will delve into the interaction between music and movement with brand new dance pieces and as per usual, we will combine the old with the new.”
The concerts also offer a series of premieres, where a musician and a dancer create a duet piece together. The series includes new choreographies by Tero Saarinen, Sonya Lindfors, Auri Ahola and Natasha Lommi. The last concert of each concert period will be streamed live as an HKO Screen-webcast on the orchestra website and on the mobile app. Two of the concerts will be broadcasted live on Yle Radio 1.