2024-10-14 08:38:00
Finnish composer and conductor Leif Segerstam died on Wednesday 9 October in Helsinki, aged 80. Multi-instrumentalist and prolific creator capable of writing nine symphonies in a month, he who presented himself late in life as the “twin brother” Santa Claus (long white hair and beard) and Johannes Brahms (face of a prophet, build of a titan) also played a decisive role, as professor at the Sibelius Academy from 1997 to 2013, in the training of numerous current reference players. of the baton, like Susanna Mälkki, former musical director of the Ensemble intercontemporain. Requested by World to evoke this “analytical and generous teacher”sums up his personality this way : “Eccentric yes, but his qualities were even greater. »
Leif Segerstam was born on March 2, 1944 in Vaasa (Finland). His Swedish-speaking parents are teachers. In 1947, after her mother obtained a place at a Swedish language school in Helsinki, the family moved to the Finnish capital. Very quickly, « Lefa” attracts attention with his musical gifts. Pointing out to his father that a vinyl record doesn’t spin at the right speed and above all learning to use all the brass instruments (from the alto horn, to the cornet, to the tuba).
At the age of 8, he joined the youth department of the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and, three years later, was concertmaster of the institute’s junior orchestra. At 13 he performed on the piano in a cabaret to accompany… a stripper’s act. Leif Segerstam’s exceptional versatility came to light in 1962 when, within a few weeks, he won the prestigious Maj Lind piano competition and made his debut as a concert violinist.
“Inhabited” performance.
The following year, having graduated from the Sibelius Academy (violin, conducting), the young Finn went to perfect his skills at the Juilliard School, in New York, in the class of the French conductor Jean Morel (1903-1975) who left to 1965 to enter the business. Appointed artistic director of the Royal Stockholm Opera in 1968, Leif Segerstam intensified his commitments. In the late 1970s he was chief conductor of the Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Vienna (1975 to 1982) and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Helsinki (1977 to 1987).
In Germany (State Philharmonic of Rhineland-Palatinate, from 1983 to 1989), in Denmark (National Radio Symphony Orchestra, from 1988 to 1995) and in his native country (Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, from 1995 to 2007), the maestro stands out for its “live” shows. At the antipodes (longer tempos, accentuated lyricism, monumental dramaturgy) of those of the austere Paavo Berglund (1929-2012), his interpretations of the symphonies of Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) are comparable to rivers of extraordinary power.
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