GREEN Piano Concerto
Severi Pyysalo: ‘Green’. Concerto for Piano and Orchestra
Dedicated to Pauli Kari
Part 1: Behind the green screen
Part 2: Lost Territory
Part 3: Greed
Part 4: Climbdown
Part 5 (Finale): Better is the World
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2 flutes, oboe, english horn, clarinet in Bb, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons/ 4 horns in F, 2 trumpets in C, 2 trombones, bass trombone, tuba / timpani, percussion: sus. cymbal, triangle, snare drum, bass drum, marimba/ piano solo / strings
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The young musicians from the Baltic Sea countries preferred to tinker with their scores. With great success. United to form the Baltic Sea Youth Philharmonic, they will once again be performing the opening concert in this former power plant under the direction of the spirited festival founder Kristjan Järvi.
Järvi always keeps an eye on everything, a pointer here, an encouraging smile there. He himself dances every beat on the podium, music as a whole-person event, without being overdone. An animator who encourages young people and welds them together into an amazingly perfect orchestra in a short time. Early pros show off their skills. The string legato, the double bass rumble, the woodwind warmth and the flashing brass - you don't hear it that lively every day! Järvi can celebrate again this time.
This cooperation works every year, even if some countries are sometimes not completely "green". And so the young artists, together with Kristjan Järvi and the fabulous pianist Pauli Kari, also help the world premiere "GREEN Concerto for piano and orchestra" by Severi Pyysalo (born 1967) to be a success.
“Behind the Green Screen, Lost Territory, Greed, Climb down, Better is the World” are the five relatively short sentences. This is about our environment, about penance for environmental sins and the necessary conversion. It's contemporary music in the Finnish style, a land of deep silent forests and not just 1,000, but 187,888 lakes! Anyone who lives in such a country composes audibly differently than in overcrowded Central Europe.
Dissonances are not an end in themselves for Severi Pyysalo - also a well-known vibraphonist - even when Pauli Kari - pleasantly relaxed in a blue shirt and dark waistcoat - hammers the keys with bravura. The battle against the abuse of nature, which is waged with concentrated chords, is always followed by the song-like soothing. In his composition, Pyysalo denounces the overexploitation of resources, but apparently assumes that we have already learned from our mistakes and ends with the optimistic finale: "Better is the World". When I tell him afterwards that I often heard the rustling of the forest and the gurgling of the water, he is very satisfied.
In any case, Pyysalo could not have found a better interpreter for his message. Kari plays his difficult part in a highly varied manner and, moreover, by heart. A tremendous memory. "First I memorized the left page optically, then the right, actually always 2 pages a day," he explained to me afterwards. Only when he had the sheet music in his head did the music come along. But all in just 1 ½ months. "It's actually way too tight a timeline for a new piece like this, but I know now that I can do it," he smiles. He did it, but how! Roaring applause is the well-deserved reward.
“In my upcoming concerto I have tried to continue along the lines which to me as a composer feel natural. A certain kind of “fragmentation” and vertical cuts in relation to repeated themes has always been prominent in my music. I visualize music (especially classical music) as images or as stage music for an imaginary play. Stravinsky has always been a great source of inspiration to me, and he has been that also during the composition of this piece. On the other hand, I have not wanted to deny my musical background in jazz this time either – something that, whether I want it to or not, undoubtedly still shines through. Although I usually don’t seek to define anything with my music, the title of the piece, GREEN refers to environmental protection and to values that I myself want to stand for. However, I will not let the piano soloist Pauli Kari – whose superb skills I have already come to know – off easily in this piece. So while the carbon print might not be discernible, I think the sweat stains probably will. I hope you will enjoy what you hear.”
In Turku, February 10th, 2011
– Severi Pyysalo
Soloist
Pauli Kari is a Finnish classical virtuoso pianist, improviser and composer. As a child he was taught according to traditional Russian methods and the combination of his Russian virtuosity and Finnish creativity brings a unique touch to his performances. Pauli has won several national and international competitions and has performed all over the world, receiving widespread acclaim for his thrilling performances in some of the world’s great venues, from New York’s Carnegie Hall to Leipzig’s Gewandhaus. Last season Pauli toured as a soloist with the Finnish and Russian Symphony Orchestras, playing piano concertos by Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Gershwin and Rachmaninoff. He also worked extensively with Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations, giving concerts in distinctive places such as churches, hospitals and theatres, as well as concert halls. Working with this masterpiece like this offered Pauli one of the most exciting experiences of his musical life. In 2014, Pauli was invited to record Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations for the label Centaur Records, and the release date and 2015–2016 tour schedule will be announced soon. This season, Pauli has begun a collaboration with MDR Leipzig Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Kristjan Järvi. Together, they will continue to present the work of composer Selim Gustav Adolf Palmgren to German, and eventually international, audiences. Pauli gave the premiere of Palmgren’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in June at the Midsummer Festival in Gewandhaus, and recorded all five of Palmgren’s piano concertos. Alongside his career as a soloist, Pauli plays chamber music regularly. PianoDuo ConFuego, his duo with Maria Männikkö, was born in 2012 from the dream of a pianist couple to play chamber music together. The duo performs Spanish-oriented repertoire and has performed in the major festivals and concert halls of Finland, Italy and Germany. Pauli studied at Lahti Music Conservatory, Sibelius Academy (youth training) and Turku Art Academy, and had many masterclasses all over the world, with artists and professors including Liisa Pohjola, Elzbieta Guzek, Matti Raekallio, Leslie Howard, Arie Vardi and Alexander Braginsky. He also studied on the Arts Management Programme at Sibelius Academy and is active as an executive producer, artistic director and pioneer.
Composer
Severi Pyysalo played his breakthrough gig in Pori Jazz in 1982. A few summers later he jammed on the main stage in the band of the singer legend Sarah Vaughan and released the same year his debut album. In fall 1987 Pyysalo started his jazzstudies at the Sibelius Academy and started to lead his own bands. Severi Pyysalo Quartet, No Hope Band and The Front were mainly consisted of the fellow students at the Sibelius Academy and the bands performed actively and did also a Finnish Jazz Federation's tour. In 1991 The Front was chosen as the Best Group at the Jazz Meeting of the Nordic Jazz Radios in Copenhagen and the next year Pyysalo joined Jukka Perko Quartet. Later also Perko-Pyysalo Poppoo was born, one of the most famous jazzbands in Finland in the 1990s.
In the 1990s Pyysalo had time, besides Poppoo, to make himself known on the Nordic jazzfield by cooperating with Swedish bass player Anders Jormin and Danish pianist Thomas Clausen. In 1995 Pyysalo debuted as a classic composer when the Helsinki Festival ordered a work for seven percussionists from him. The next year he composed also a work called "Devotion" for the Radio Symphony Orchestra and a percussionist. For UMO Jazz Orchestra Pyysalo has composed music since early-1990s and the collaboration with the orchestra, Pyysalo working both as a soloist, a composer and an arranger, has continued till today.
A great example of the open-mindedness and versatility of Pyysalo was the album New Moods - New Sounds (Blue Note 2001) with saxophonist-clarinetist Antti Sarpila. The album consisting of mainly Pyysalo's compositions wasn't traditional jazz than personal modern rhythm music where the best features of the main soloists were clearly visible. Pyysalo had also an important role in the chamber jazz group Turgan Trio of bassist Tuure Koski and on the album Kuunnelmia (Blue Note 2004) recorded with Jukka Perko and Teemu Viinikainen.
In the 21st century Pyysalo has played a lot in the projects of guitarist Niklas Winter. He has also featured Otra Vez!, the group combining jazz and Argentinian tango. On the gigs and on the album Chasin' the Jazz Gone by (2005) by The Five Corners Quintet Pyysalo reached also the awareness of the younger clubjazz audience.