The concert series Maestro is supported by EPIIM
Erkki-Sven Tüür
Cello Concerto No. 2 (premiere)
Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 5
The Maestro series will conclude in May, under the direction of Olari Elts. The 97th season of ERSO will feature works of one of the greatest symphonists of all time, Gustav Mahler. The season-ending concert will feature Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, his second purely instrumental symphony. Mahler composed the work during his summer holidays in 1901 and 1902, after meeting his future wife Alma. The trajectory of Symphony No. 5, from mourning to triumph, reflects developments in the composer’s personal life.
The soloist in Erkki-Sven Tüür’s Cello Concerto No. 2 is Nicolas Altstaedt. The work was co-commissioned by ERSO, the Bamberg Symphony, and the Philharmonia Orchestra, and one of its premieres will take place in Tallinn. Altstaedt is a versatile and popular artist who is both a soloist, conductor, and chamber musician and his repertoire ranges from early music to contemporary compositions. He has premiered Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Cello Concerto and, in addition to Tüür’s new concerto, he is scheduled to premiere new concertos by Liza Lim and Márton Illés in upcoming seasons.
NICOLAS ALTSTAEDT cello
ERSO
Conductor OLARI ELTS
The concert series Maestro is supported by EPIIM
Carl Maria von Weber
Turandot Overture and March
Paul Hindemith
Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber
Wilhelm Furtwängler
Symphony No. 2 in E minor
Neeme Järvi, Honorary Artistic Director for Life of ERSO, will be joining the orchestra in May. Järvi’s collaboration with ERSO began in 1956. Four years later, Järvi was named the conductor in residence of the orchestra, and in 1963, its chief conductor. His second term as chief conductor ended in 2020, but both the orchestra and the public happily look forward to his return to the podium every year. This time, the programme will feature works by Wilhelm Furtwängler and Paul Hindemith.
Furtwängler, who is considered one of the best conductors of the 20th century, is considerably less well-known as a composer. He has written three symphonies, of which his Symphony in E minor with ERSO is an extensive four-movement work in the late Romantic style. In 1930, Furtwängler expressed support for Hindemith, performing the works of the latter even after they had been banned in Germany by the Nazis. Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphoses ties a third German composer, Carl Maria von Weber, on whose Turandot themes the work is based, with the programme. The composition was originally conceived as a ballet, although it was completed in the United States in 1943 as a four-part orchestral work.
ERSO
Conductor NEEME JÄRVI
The concert series Romance is supported by Nordic Catering
Rasmus Puur
Symphony (premiere)
Robert Schumann
Concertpiece for Four Horns and Orchestra, Op. 86
Johannes Brahms
Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98
The Romance series will end in May and the orchestra will be led again by Chief Conductor Olari Elts. The concert will feature an exceptional line-up of soloists, four young Estonian horn players Paula Ernesaks, Kairi Sosi, Eliise Kannukene and Kreete Jacob, all with prominent careers ahead of them in Estonia and abroad. Paula Ernesaks joined the Berliner Philharmoniker as a member of its horn section in the spring of 2022.
Robert Schumann’s Concertpiece for Four Horns and Orchestra, featuring horn solos, will be performed. The second half of the concert will feature a performance of Johannes Brahms’s Symphony No. 4, which is the longest of his symphonies and a good summary of his entire symphonic output. The evening will begin with the premiere of Rasmus Puur’s Symphony No. 1.
PAULA ERNESAKS horn
KAIRI SOSI horn
ELIISE KANNUKENE horn
KREETE JACOB horn
ERSO
Conductor OLARI ELTS
Margo Kõlar
…Only One Word…
Liisa Hõbepappel
And now it is still now
Age Veeroos
New piece for cello and orchestra
Linda Leimane
Enantiomorphic Chambers
Justina Repečkaitė
Vellum
Marius Baranauskas
Supernova
One of the highlights of the Estonian Music Days is the concert of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra (ERSO).
This season, Estonian Music Days and ERSO will introduce new
compositions from Estonia and other Baltic countries. The concert will
be conducted by the British conductor Clement Power, who is well known
as an interpreter of new music. The “LHV New Composition Award 2024”
will be presented at the concert.
VALLE-RASMUS ROOTS cello
ERSO
Conductor CLEMENT POWER
The concert series Amadeus is supported by RADISSON COLLECTION HOTEL, TALLINN
Felix Mendelssohn
Overture The Hebrides, Op. 26
Robert Schumann
Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 36 in C major, K. 425
In 2021, Misora Ozaki was awarded the third prize and the ERSO Special Prize at the 2021 Tallinn International Piano Competition. This season, we are welcoming the young pianist back to Tallinn. Our own young conductor, Henri Christofer Aavik, will be conducting one of the most romantic piano concertos, Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor.
Aavik has recently earned attention in Europe by winning the first prize in the Jorma Panula Conducting Competition and the second prize in the Yevgeny Svetlanov International Conducting Competition. In fact, the young conductor has called Neeme Järvi, a long-time ERSO Chief Conductor, one of the most important role models in his conducting career. ERSO will also be performing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Symphony No. 36 and the overture The Hebrides by another musical child prodigy Felix Mendelssohn.
MISORA OZAKI piano
ERSO
Conductor HENRI CHRISTOFER AAVIK
The concert series Romance is supported by Nordic Catering
Richard Strauss
Symphonic poem Don Juan
Paul Hindemith
Three Songs, Op. 9
Richard Wagner
‘Dawn and Siegfried’s Rhein Journey’ from the opera Twilight of the Gods
Richard Wagner
‘Funeral March’ from the opera Twilight of the Gods
Richard Wagner
‘Build me a sturdy funeral pyre’ from the opera Twilight of the Gods
In March, ERSO, Olari Elts, and soprano Aile Asszonyi will meet on the stage of the Estonia Concert Hall to perform an operatic concert programme. The programme will feature excerpts from Richard Wagner’s last opera Twilight of the Gods part of the tetralogy The Ring of the Nibelung. The works of Richard Strauss and Paul Hindemith will also be played.
This year, soloist Aile Asszonyi made her historic debut at the Frankfurt Opera, taking the stage in the title role in Elektra by Richard Strauss. This is one of the most compelling roles ever performed by an Estonian singer in a top European opera house. Asszonyi’s dramatic soprano is particularly well-suited to major roles in the operas of Wagner and Strauss. This evening, however, we will be hearing a performance of Strauss’s symphonic poem Don Juan.
AILE ASSZONYI soprano
ERSO
Conductor OLARI ELTS
Manuel de Falla
Suite No. 2 from the ballet El Sombrero des Tres Picos
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K.466
Maurice Ravel
Rapsodie espagnole
Claude Debussy
Three symphonic sketches La Mer
In 2022, Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt gave a very successful solo concert in the Estonia Concert Hall, which included the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Hewitt is dedicated in particular to the interpretation of the music of Bach and in this respect, she is considered the heir to her famous compatriot, Glenn Gould. In March 2024, Hewitt will be back in Estonia and she will perform Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 with ERSO.
As with the previous concert in the Piano Concerto series, this evening we will also be hearing a work by Manuel de Falla, more specifically, a suite from his ballet El Sombrero des Tres Picos. The second half of the concert will continue with the theme of Spain, with a performance of Maurice Ravel’s Rapsodie espagnole. The concert will be directed by French conductor Pierre Bleuse, who is the chief conductor of the Odense Symphony Orchestra and, from the 2023/24 season, the music director of the renowned contemporary music ensemble intercontemporain.
ANGELA HEWITT piano
ERSO
Conductor PIERRE BLEUSE
6 p.m. – pre-concert event
Carl Reinecke
Trio for oboe, horn and piano, Op. 188 I and II movement
Performers Guido Gualandi, Jürnas Rähni and Kärt Ruubel
Musicologist Anu Veenre speaks about the concert programme
7 p.m. – symphony concert
Ludwig van Beethoven
Leonore Overture No. 3, Op. 72b
Carl Reinecke
Flute Concerto in D major Op. 283
Robert Schumann
Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Op. 120
Jasmine Choi, the soloist of the third concert of the Pure Gold series, is one of the most acclaimed flutists of her generation, performing a repertoire ranging from classical to pop music. In addition to her orchestral work with the Vienna Symphony and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, she has performed as a soloist with countless other orchestras. Together with ERSO, she will be performing Carl Reinecke’s Flute Concerto.
The concert will be conducted by Holly Hyun Choe, who has assisted Paavo Järvi in the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich in the recent seasons. She will conduct the third overture to Ludwig van Beethoven’s opera Leonore and Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 4. The work is the last in order, but the first symphony composed by Schumann.
JASMINE CHOI flute
ERSO
Conductor HOLLY HYUN CHOE
Kaija Saariaho
Six Japanese Gardens
Florent Ghys
Petits Artéfacts
Missy Mazzoli
Vespers for Violin
Tōru Takemitsu
Rain Tree
In February, ERSO ensembles are once again inviting the audience to the international photography museum Fotografiska. In the museum filled with photography, music and visual arts will meet for the evening. The length of the concert is one hour.
VAMBOLA KRIGUL percussion
THEODOR SINK cello
NINA KAWAGUCHI violin
Arvo Pärt
Swansong
Benjamin Britten
Violin Concerto, Op. 15
Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 6 in A minor
In February, long-time chief conductor of the orchestra, Arvo Volmer will once again perform with ERSO. Volmer, concert soloist violinist Benjamin Beilman, and ERSO have met on stage before when they performed together on a concert tour in the United States in 2018. Beilman will be visiting Estonia for the first time and the concert will feature an excerpt of Benjamin Britten’s Violin Concerto. Beilman has earned international acclaim for his passionate performances and deep, rich tone.
One of the keywords for ERSO’s 2023/24 season is Gustav Mahler’s symphonies, and one of them, No. 6, will also be presented during this concert. The symphony, also known as Tragic, is a large-scale work composed for a large orchestral ensemble. However, the first movement of the symphony contains one of Mahler’s most romantic themes, named after his wife Alma. The opening work of the concert is Arvo Pärt’s Swansong, which is an orchestral version of his work Littlemore Tractus, composed in 2000 for choir and organ.
BENJAMIN BEILMAN violin
ERSO
Conductor ARVO VOLMER
The concert series Amadeus is supported by RADISSON COLLECTION HOTEL TALLINN
Fanny Mendelssohn
Overture in C major
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K. 219
Franz Schubert
Symphony No. 4 in C major, D 417
Acclaimed chamber musician, soloist, and concertmaster Florian Donderer will be performing with ERSO at the third concert of the Amadeus series. He is well known to local audiences as the concertmaster of the Estonian Festival Orchestra and first violin of the outstanding Signum Quartet. The Signum Quartet is one of the most adventurous and outstanding string quartets in the music world today.
For the ERSO concert, Florian Donderer has selected for the programme Violin Concerto No. 5 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. All of Mozart’s violin concertos were written over a short period of time in Salzburg, with the fifth, the Concerto in A major, a youthfully fresh and sincere work, being the last one. Alongside Mozart, Donderer has selected works by Fanny Mendelssohn and Franz Schubert. Fanny was a talented pianist and composer who was overshadowed as a musician by her brother, Felix Mendelssohn. From Schubert’s repertoire, we will be hearing the Symphony No. 4, subtitled Tragic, the most serious of his first six symphonies, reminiscent of the musical compositions of the Sturm und Drang period.
The concert series Piano Concerto is supported by LIVIKO
6 p.m. – pre-concert
Liina Sumera
Conatus
A conversation between Guido Gualandi, Bas Wiegers and Liina Sumera.
7 p.m. – symphony concert
Liina Sumera
Chimera
Manuel de Falla
Nights in the Gardens of Spain
Igor Stravinsky
The Rite of Spring
Dutch conductor Bas Wiegers performs often with ERSO and their collaboration began in 2016, at the Eight Bridges Festival, in Cologne. Since the 2022/23 season, the charismatic conductor works with the Munich Chamber Orchestra and appears regularly as a guest conductor for various orchestras around the world. The last time when Wiegers performed with ERSO was in April 2022 when Triin Ruubel gave a solo performance of Tôru Takemitsu’s work Nostalghia.
This time, the person to share the stage with Wiegers and ERSO is the pianist Age Juurikas, who will be performing Manuel de Falla’s work Nights in the Gardens of Spain. De Falla is deemed one of Spain’s most important composers and he has influenced musicians across Europe. Before his time, Spanish music and folk traditions were virtually unknown outside the Iberian Peninsula. The concert will also feature Igor Stravinsky’s legendary work The Rite of Spring and Liina Sumera’s new piece, written especially for this concert.
Conductor Giordano Bellincampi will be returning to Estonia in January. The music director of the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra will perform with ERSO for the fourth time This time, the programme features works by German composers. The concert will begin with the overture from Carl Maria von Weber’s opera Euryanthe, which, despite the failure of the opera itself, has remained a popular work in the concert repertoire. The second half will feature a performance of Richard Strauss’s musical autobiography Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life).
Last time, in 2022, the young Italian pianist Leonardo Colafelice was set to perform with ERSO together with Bellincampi, but circumstances forced him to find a new soloist. This season, we look forward to the return of the talented artist and the programme includes a performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3.
Carl Maria von Weber
Overture to the opera Euryanthe
Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37
Richard Strauss
Symphonic poem Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life) Op. 40
LEONARDO COLAFELICE piano
ERSO
Conductor GIORDANO BELLINCAMPI
For the second year in a row, we will open Christmas celebrations with an ERSO concert. This year’s Christmas concert will once again be inspired by the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with a focus on vocal music. ERSO will be joined by two bright young singers: soprano Mirjam Mesak, who is pursuing a career as a soloist with the Bavarian State Opera, and mezzo-soprano Sandra Laagus, who is at the beginning of her career as a singer, but has already distinguished herself as a mature artist.
The concert will feature excerpts from Mozart’s operas, as well as two of his symphonies – No. 31 and No. 32. In keeping with the festive season, we will also hear Suite de Noels by French composer François-Joseph Gossec. The programme also includes the work of Louise Farrenc, the first and only woman in the 19th century to become a professor at the Paris Conservatory.
François-Joseph Gossec
Suite de Noels
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
‘Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben’ from the opera Zaide, K. 344
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 32 in G major, K. 318
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Exsultate, jubilate, K. 165
Louise Farrenc
Overture No. 2, Op. 24
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
‘L’amerò, sarò costante’ from the opera Il re pastore, KV 208
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 31, Paris Symphony, in D major, K. 297/300a
MIRJAM MESAK soprano
SANDRA LAAGUS mezzo-soprano
ERSO
Conductor OLARI ELTS
British Conductor Jonathan Bloxham will be performing with ERSO for the third time and has invited the trumpet player from the Berliner Philharmoniker to perform as a soloist. Having begun his career as a cellist, Bloxham has already conducted prestigious orchestras in Europe and Asia. The ERSO concert will feature an excerpt from Henry Purcell’s Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary, which the composer wrote for the funeral of Queen Mary II. We will also hear the Coriolan Overture, written by Ludwig van Beethoven for Heinrich Joseph von Collin’s tragedy, and Franz Schubert’s final, expansive Symphony No. 9.
Joseph Haydn’s popular trumpet concerto will be performed by Andre Schoch, who has been a member of the trumpet group in the Berliner Philharmoniker. In addition to his work in the orchestra, he instructs young musicians at the University of Mannheim and the Karajan Academy, plays chamber music, and performs as a soloist.
Henry Purcell
March from the work Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary
Ludwig van Beethoven
Overture Coriolanus, Op. 62
Joseph Haydn
Trumpet Concerto in E flat Major, Hob. VIIe/1
Franz Schubert
Symphony No. 9 in C major, D 944
ANDRE SCHOCH trumpet
ERSO
Conductor JONATHAN BLOXHAM
The Pure Gold series, which debuted last year, is back again to bring us works from the treasures of classical music. The series will open with the concert Scottish Fantasy featuring the exciting soloist, bagpiper Robert Jordan. He will also perform An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise by Peter Maxwell Davies. Jordan is one of the most sought-after bagpipers in the UK, having performed with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, and many other ensembles.
We will hear Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3, known as the Scottish symphony. Malcolm Arnold’s Tam O’Shanter overture, a piece of programme music, is based on a poem of the same name by the Scottish writer Robert Burns and tells the story of an alcoholic farmer. In Max Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy for violin and orchestra, we hear Scottish folk tunes featuring a solo by Canadian violinist Lara St. John.
Malcolm Arnold
Overture Tam O’Shanter, Op. 51
Max Bruch
Scottish Fantasy, Op. 46
Felix Mendelssohn
Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56
Peter Maxwell Davies
An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise
LARA ST. JOHN violin
ROBERT JORDAN bagpipes
ERSO
Conductor OLARI ELTS
In November, two British musicians will be performing with ERSO – conductor Martyn Brabbins and soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn. Brabbins is the music director of the English National Opera and a lecturer of conducting at the Royal College of Music and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He has had a long career as an opera conductor and has also conducted hundreds of new works by British composers around the world.
The highlights of Elizabeth Llewellyin’s 2022/23 concert season included the title role in Richard Strauss’s opera Ariadne Naxosel at the Leeds Grand Theatre & Opera House and Strauss’s cycle Four Last Songs as performed by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. The latter will also be performed during the autumn concert with ERSO. Brabbins will also direct Jean Sibelius’s Kalevala-based symphonic poem Tapiola and Symphony No. 5 by British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Jean Sibelius
Symphonic poem Tapiola, Op. 112
Richard Strauss
Four Last Songs
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Symphony No. 5 in D major
ELIZABETH LLEWELLYN soprano
ERSO
Conductor MARTYN BRABBINS
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