Finnish National Romantics: Sibelius and Madetoja in Concert
Lecture and Concert
This is a free event.
- Folke Gräsbeck, piano
- Päivikki Nykter, violin
- Katri Ervamaa, cello
Event Details
Pre-concert Lecture at 7pm
Concert at 8pm
Concert at 8pm
Co-sponsored by University of Michigan’s Residential College and the Scandinavian Program, the program features Finnish national romantic chamber music by two Finnish composers, Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) and Leevi Madetoja (1887-1947). Sibelius, well-known for his symphonies and tone-poems, also wrote a considerable amount of chamber music, most of it unpublished. The Third Piano Trio, entitled “Hafträsk” is a youthful work, composed in when Sibelius was only 20, and before the start of his formal composition studies. Leevi Madetoja, a young composer of considerable talent, wrote his Piano Trio op.1 when first entering his composition studies with Sibelius: the story goes that S. said to M.: “I think you should write a Piano Trio”, and then promptly left to travel abroad for the next several months.
Folke Gräsbeck
Folke Gräsbeck is a Finnish classical pianist. He was born to a musical family: his father was the composer Gottfrid Gräsbeck (1927–2010). Folke began to play the piano at the age of two, under the guidance of his mother La Vonne Gräsbeck, and continued his studies at the Turku Conservatory at the age of five.
Gräsbeck made his solo orchestral debut with the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of 12, playing the 1st movement of the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 12, and with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra at the age of 14, playing the Weber Konzertstück. By the age of 17, Gräsbeck had won two national piano competitions in Finland, playing the Beethoven Piano Concerto No.4 and the Prokofiev Piano Concerto No.1.
After winning the national competitions, Gräsbeck's right hand was injured in 1974. He would not start performing on a regular basis again until in 1981, when he underwent a successful surgery on the hand.
The leading authority on Sibelius’ piano works, Gräsbeck has performed more than 200 of Sibelius’s c. 550 compositions, and has given the world première performances of 82 of them. He was the first pianist to give a recital at the new Sibelius Hall in Lahti (14th March 2000), playing a program exclusively devoted to Sibelius piano music premières. In 1996 he was awarded the medal of Sibelius’s Birthplace in Hämeenlinna. In addition to Sibelius’ music, he has performed some thirty piano concertos and given performances as a recitalist, chamber player and Lied accompanist in the USA, Egypt, Israel, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mexico as well as in many European countries. He has made numerous recordings for BIS, many of which are included in the company’s ongoing complete recorded Sibelius edition.
