Renowned Finnish conductor returns to PSO for 2 programs

One of the world’s leading conductors returns to Heinz Hall this week to do double duty.

Osmo Vanska will lead a particularly interesting program for a pair of BNY Mellon Grand Classics concerts, and also conduct a masterpiece for the holiday season, “Messiah.”

Vanska will conduct the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra at Dec. 6 and 8 concerts at Pittsburgh’s Heinz Hall. The program is Carl Nielsen’s Helios Overture, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 2 with Augustin Hadelich as soloist, Thomas Ades’ Violin Concerto (“Concentric Paths”) with Hadelich as soloist and Jan Sibelius’ Symphony No. 3.

Vanska also will conduct vocal soloists, the Mendelssohn Choir and the symphony in George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah” on Dec. 7 also in Heinz Hall. The vocal soloists are soprano Nola Richardson, mezzo-soprano Eve Gigliotti, tenor Karim Sulayman, and bass-baritone Richard Ollarsaba.

The Finnish conductor has been music director for the Minnesota Orchestra for the past 16 years, taking it to new heights and making many award-winning recordings. He’s also active in Europe, and increasingly in Asia.

He was interviewed between morning and afternoon rehearsals of a Chinese orchestra, and next year will become music director of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra in South Korea.

God of the sun

Vanska will open the classical subscription concerts with Nielsen’s Helios Overture. Helios was the ancient Greek god of the sun.

“I love the way he describes when it’s still dark, and then you see first ideas about the sunrise coming,” Vanska says. “It’s a great piece I have conducted many times, in many countries, and recorded also years ago.”

The high point is in the middle of the piece, in full sunlight – music of exhilarating energy and optimism.

Violinist Augustin Hadelich has already given many memorable performances at Heinz Hall. On this visit, he plays two contrasting works, one by Mozart and the other by contemporary Englishman Thomas Ades.

The Ades Concerto is subtitled “Concentric Paths.” Each of its contrasting three movements is circular in design.

Vanska, who will be conducting the concerto for the first time, has been enjoying studying the score, which he says is very interesting, “not too modern” and very difficult.

Back to basics

The Sibelius Third Symphony is a symphony concert premiere, although the orchestra recorded it under former music director Lorin Maazel for Sony Classical.

“After the First and Second Symphonies, two full romantic pieces, Sibelius wanted to do something different, and turned back to the basics,” Vanska says.

The music is tuneful and clear in textures and form, prompting some people to think of Mendelssohn.

“I think it was a smart move for him,” says Vanska, “not trying to make more and more super-romantic music.”

The middle movement, for this conductor, draws upon the Finnish singing oral tradition of telling “what happened a hundred years ago and keeping that alive.”

The conductor mentions that this traditional way of remembering history is touching for him, because his parents were among the half-million people who left their homes after World War II when the Soviets took over part of the Karelia region of Finland.

The most famous piece by Sibelius is “Finlandia,” which was written as an assertion of national pride during an earlier period of problems with Russian influence.