The series is sponsored by Nordic Catering
Felix Mendelssohn
Overture Ruy Blas, Op. 95
Edvard Grieg
Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16
Robert Schumann
Symphony No. 2 in C major, Op. 61
In April, conductor Giordano Bellincampi, whose return is always eagerly awaited by the orchestra as well as the audience, will direct ERSO. The concert playlist includes the overture Ruy Blas by Felix Mendelssohn for the play of the same name by Victor Hugo. This is the largest orchestral overture by Mendelssohn in terms of the orchestration, despite the fact that the composer admittedly completed the piece in only three days. The second half of the concert is dedicated to Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 2. Schumann is the best example of a composer of the Romantic period – his manner of creative expression is lyrical with an emphasis on the self and he often used non-musical, primarily literary, references in his work.
Ukrainian pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk, who resides in Australia, will perform Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto. On one hand, this composition reflects the colours of the nature of Norway, Grieg’s home country, and on the other hand, the example set by Robert Schumann and other German masters. Gavrylyuk is a highly valued virtuoso, who is the residing artist of London Wigmore Hall in the 2023/24 season.
ALEXANDER GAVRYLYUK piano
ERSO
Conductor GIORDANO BELLINCAMPI
The series is sponsored by Radisson Collection Hotel, Tallinn
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Adagio and Fugue in C minor, K. 546
Ludwig van Beethoven
Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 29 in A major, K. 201/186a
In April, Polish violinist Maria Włoszczowska will perform with ERSO. Her versatility as a musician includes performances as a soloist, a concertmaster, and a chamber musician. The programme includes Ludwig van Beethoven’s Violin Concerto – the first monumental work in this genre, which paved the way for subsequent Romantic violin concertos. When composing the piece, he copied the style of the representatives of the French Violin School and relied on virtuosic techniques as well as the rhythmic patterns of marches, which were popular in French music during the revolution.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is represented with his Symphony No. 29. This piece, created when the composer was only 18, is one of the most remarkable among his early works, attesting to his compositional mastery. In addition to the symphony, the programme includes one of the later works of Mozart – Adagio and Fugue in C minor – which was inspired by the counterpoint technique of Johann Sebastian Bach, clearly reflected in the name of the piece.
MARIA WŁOSZCZOWSKA violin
ERSO
The series is sponsored by Epiim
Georges Bizet
L’Arlésienne, incidental music for the drama with the same name
Camille Saint-Saëns
Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22
Claude Debussy
Symphonic triptych Nocturnes
Paul Dukas
Symphonic poem The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
In March, conductor Yan Pascal Tortelier brings French music to the Estonia Concert Hall. Tortelier is a highly anticipated guest at the most prestigious orchestras of the world. He is a conductor emeritus of the BBC Philharmonic and his last appointment was as the principal conductor of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. The concert features incidental music written by Georges Bizet for Alphonse Daudet’s drama L’Arlésienne. The symphonic triptych Nocturnes by Claude Debussy paints images of France at dusk. The Ellerhein Girls’ Choir will sing in the third part of the composition. The concert ends with the symphonic poem The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Paul Dukas, based on a poem of the same name by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
Swiss pianist and soloist Louis Schwizgebel will perform one of the most popular piano concertos of the nineteenth century – Piano Concerto No. 2 by Camille Saint-Saëns. Schwizgebel is an internationally recognised artist, first prize winner of the Geneva International Music Competition, and second prize winner of the Leeds International Piano Competition.
LOUIS SCHWIZGEBEL piano
Ellerhein Girls' Choir
ERSO
Conductor YAN PASCAL TORTELIER
Viet Cuong
"Water, Wine, Brandy, Brine" ~13′
Steve Reich
„Drumming” pt 1 ~25′
Gavin Bryars
"One Last Bar, Then Joe Can Sing" ~20′
Lina Sumera
"Conatus" ~12′
The series will conclude with a concert at the Paavli Culture Factory, the program of which will be prepared by ERSO percussionist Vambola Krigul
Vambola Krigul, Lauri Metsvahi, Terje Terasmaa, Kaspar Eisel, Adam Jeffrey, Maarja Nuut, Triin Krigul, Helena Altmanis, Mari-Katrina Suss
The concert series "Cello Concerto" is supported by Liviko
6 pm – pre-concert
Helena Tulve's "Sing to Me About a Flowering Tree" and "Rimlands" Part I
Performed by Kärt Ruubel, Soo Young Lee and Theodor Sink
Olari Elts and Helena Tulve in conversation
7 p.m. – symphony concert
Helena Tulve
"Signs and Signals" (premiere)
Robert Schumann
Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 129 ~25′
Lili Boulanger
"From Spring Morning" ~6′
Robert Schumann
Symphony No. 1 in B flat major, op. 38 “Spring Symphony” ~35′
The third concert of the concert series “Cello Concerto” will be performed by the audience again under the baton of chief conductor Olari Elts . The soloist of the concert is one of the best cellists of our time, Steven Isserlis . Recognized worldwide for his technique and musicianship, Isserlis works as a soloist, chamber musician, writer and presenter. He regularly performs with the world's best orchestras and has released dozens of albums. In 1998, he was awarded the title of Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Isserlis plays a Stradivari cello dating back to 1726. The Estonian National Symphony Orchestra will perform Robert Schumann's Cello Concerto at this concert.
The concert will open with a new work by Helena Tulve . The Estonian National Symphony Orchestra will also perform for the first time French composer Lili Boulanger's latest orchestral work "From a Spring Morning". The spring mood continues with Robert Schumann's First Symphony, in which "spring" can be seen as synonymous with a new beginning in the composer's life.
The series is sponsored by Radisson Collection Hotel, Tallinn
Mario Venzago
Chorale Variations
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat major, K. 271
Anton Bruckner
Symphony No. 3 in D minor, WAB 103
Pianist William Youn will be performing with ERSO during the third concert of the series ‘Amadeus’, and the concert will be conducted by Mario Venzago. Critics have dubbed Youn a poet on the piano, whose brilliant touch allows him to dive into the spiritual depths of music. His Schubert recordings are particularly highly praised, but in addition to those, he has also recorded all of Mozart’s piano sonatas. With ERSO, he will be performing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 9.
Mario Venzago has worked as the chief conductor of the Basque National Orchestra and symphony orchestras in Bern, Indianapolis, Gothenburg, Basel, Graz, and elsewhere. Lately, he has also dedicated his time to composing. ERSO will be performing his Chorale Variations. 2024 was the 200th anniversary of the birth of composer Anton Bruckner. The series will feature his Symphony No. 3, dedicated to Richard Wagner – the piece is also known as the Wagner Symphony.
The series is sponsored by Nordaid
Jean-Féry Rebel
Excerpts from the cycle Les Élémens
Georg Friedrich Händel
Music for the Royal Fireworks, HWV 351
Joseph Martin Kraus
Symphonie funèbre in honour of Gustav III
Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 100 in G major, Hob. I/100
In February, conductor Reinhard Goebel and ERSO will introduce a cross-section of the musical heritage of the eighteenth century. Goebel is a German conductor and violinist, a living legend of early music. The title of the concert is a reference to the period of enlightenment – the revolution in thought that took place in Europe in the eighteenth century. Therefore, the playlist of the concert also reflects the battle between light and darkness.
The concert opens with French composer Jean-Féry Rebel’s Chaos from the Elements cycle, whose use of dissonance had a revolutionary meaning at the time. Georg Friedrich Händel will be represented by his Music for the Royal Fireworks, which was dedicated to the end of the War of the Austrian Succession in 1749. For the first time ever, ERSO will be playing a piece by Joseph Martin Kraus. The orchestra will perform the composer’ music for the funeral of King Gustav III of Sweden. The concert ends with Symphony No. 100 by Joseph Haydn. It is one of the twelve London symphonies of the composer, also known under the name Military.
ERSO
Conductor REINHARD GOEBEL
The series is sponsored by Epiim
Giuseppe Martucci
Nocturne, Op.70 No. 1
Henryk Wieniawski
Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 22
Ruth Crawford Seeger
Andante for Strings
Arthur Honegger
Symphony No. 2
Maestro Gilbert Varga returns to ERSO in February. This time he will bring Arthur Honegger’s Symphony No. 2 to the stage, performed by an exciting mix of instruments. In addition to the strings, the composer used one trumpet in the symphony. Under Varga’s guidance, ERSO will perform compositions by Ruth Crawford Seeger for the first time during this concert. Although nowadays, she is primarily known as a folk music expert, Crawford Seeger was a ground-breaking ultra-modernist in her youth, whose experimental music predicted the development of modernism in American music. Andante for Strings comes from her only string quartet.
15-year-old talented violin soloist Seohyun Kim will perform Violin Concerto No. 2 by Polish violin virtuoso Henryk Wieniawski. Kim received the first prize at the 2023 Tibor Varga Violin Competition (Tibor Varga is the father of Gilbert Varga), while also being the youngest contestant.
Steve Reich
The Desert Music
John Luther Adams
Become Desert
In February, the orchestra will join the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir for a performance at Teras Beach, a beach sports and leisure centre in Tallinn. In deep winter, audiences can step barefoot onto warm white sands and enjoy minimalist atmospheric desert music composed by Steve Reich and John Luther Adams. After the concert, DJs hardened by the desert winds of Nevada will perform in the desert lounge. This is a desert party in the middle of winter!
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
ERSO
Conductor OLARI ELTS
Sound Engineer Tammo Sumera
DJ Villem Vatter
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Serenaad B-duur („Gran partita“), KV 361
GUIDO GUALANDI oboe
HELI ERNITS oboe
SÉRGIO PIRES clarinet
JOSÉ CARLOS DOMÍNGUEZ ALMELA clarinet
TAAVI ORRO bassethorn
MEELIS VIND bassethorn
JAKOB PEÄSKE bassoon
KRISTJAN KUNGLA bassoon
YE PAN horn
ARTUR REINPÕLD horn
KALLE KOPPEL horn
NIKITA MATSUK horn
MATI LUKK horn
The series is sponsored by Radisson Collection Hotel, Tallinn
Giovanni Paisiello
Sinfonia funebre
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622
Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36
In February, young conductor Henri Christofer Aavik, who made his debut with ERSO in April 2024, will be taking the stage with the orchestra. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s favourite instrument during his final years was the clarinet. Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto is his last completed instrumental concerto, which he composed for Anton Stadler, a clarinet virtuoso. The concerto continues to be one of the most important pieces in the clarinet repertoire. The soloist for the piece will be Sérgio Pires, the principal clarinet of the London Symphony Orchestra.
During the second part of the evening, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2 will be performed. Beethoven’s second symphony is usually considered a starting point for his later works, still having much in common with Haydn and Mozart. Despite the spiritual crisis of the composer at the time, the symphony has a heroic character full of sunny disposition and vitality. The concert opens with Sinfonia funebre by Giovanni Paisiello, an Italian composer and a contemporary of Mozart and Beethoven.
SÉRGIO PIRES clarinet
ERSO
Conductor HENRI CHRISTOFER AAVIK
The series is sponsored by Epiim
Dmitri Shostakovich
Violin Concerto No. 2 in C-sharp minor, Op. 129
Dmitri Shostakovich
Symphony No. 4 in C minor, Op. 43
This season, the ‘Maestro’ series is opened by Olari Elts, chief conductor of ERSO. 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the death of one of the most important composers and most influential symphonists of the twentieth century – Dmitri Shostakovich. To commemorate this occasion, Elts, ERSO, and violinist Isabelle Faust will perform the composer’s Violin Concerto No. 2 and Symphony No. 4. The latter was completed in the 1930s during a time when Shostakovich as a composer had fallen into disfavour in the Soviet Union. The tragic and dark finale of the symphony most likely reflects public disapproval that befell Shostakovich.
Isabelle Faust, who is performing with ERSO for the second time, dives into each piece by keeping in mind its place in music history, using historically accurate instruments, and striving for the closest possible authenticity according to modern knowledge. This means that she is able to perform the works of widely differing composers with great passion. Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto is one of the most multifaceted and unpredictable compositions by the symphonist, where a soloist can demonstrate their command of melodic tone as well as technical mastery.
ISABELLE FAUST violin
ERSO
Conductor OLARI ELTS
The series is sponsored by Radisson Collection Hotel, Tallinn
Reynaldo Hahn
Overture Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Concerto for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra in C major, K. 299/297c
Maurice Ravel
Suite Ma mère l’Oye (Mother Goose)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 34 in C major, K. 338
The series ‘Amadeus’ opens with the ERSO Christmas concert, with which the orchestra and chief conductor Olari Elts welcome the upcoming holidays. The programme for this season’s Christmas concert includes Mozart’s Concerto for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra. The soloists will be twin sisters Susanne Rull (flute) and Lisanne Rull (harp).
The concerto is followed by a performance of Mozart’s Symphony No. 34, his last symphony composed in Salzburg. The programme also includes Reynaldo Hahn’s overture Mozart from his comédie musicale of the same name, with words by Sacha Guitry. The musical comedy speaks about Mozart’s fictional journey to Paris. Maurice Ravel is represented at the concert with his suite Ma mère l’Oye (Mother Goose). According to an ancient French tradition, Mother Goose is a nanny telling fairy tales to the children under her care. The musical fairy tales of Ravel are characterised by simplicity intertwined with ethereal beauty.
SUSANNE RULL flute
LISANNE RULL harp
ERSO
Conductor OLARI ELTS
The series is sponsored by Nordaid
Richard Strauss
Suite for Winds in B-flat major, Op. 4
Joseph Haydn
Oboe Concerto in C major, Hob.VIIg:C1
Johannes Brahms
Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73
In December, French oboist François Leleux, who has long been considered one of the best oboe players of our time, will perform with the orchestra. The Estonian audience knows him from the Pärnu Music Festival, where he performed in the summer of 2023. He is globally famous as a soloist and a conductor, and this time, he will fill both roles for ERSO.
The concert includes the suite for 13 wind instruments in B-flat major by Richard Strauss, where Leleux will team up with the wind section of ERSO. The composer wrote it in his youth and the piece marks a crucial milestone in his career. Leleux will perform the Oboe Concerto by Joseph Haydn as a soloist; the concerto is particularly fascinating due to the question of its provenance. Although it has been attributed to Haydn, musicologists are convinced that the concerto was written by someone else. The programme for the evening also includes Symphony No. 2 by Johannes Brahms. By the time Brahms wrote this composition, the doubts and toils of creating his first symphony were behind him, so the pastoral mood of the second symphony attests to the mental balance of the author.
FRANÇOIS LELEUX oboe
ERSO
Anthony Fiumara
I Dreamed In The Cities at Night
Molly Joyce
ABC
Steve Reich
Vermont Counterpoint
Christopher Cerrone
Exhalation
Juhani Nuorvala
Concertino for clarinet
Anna Meredith
Tuggemo
The programme for the November concert at Fotografiska was put together by ERSO clarinetist Taavi Orro. The concert is inspired by American minimalism and club music. In addition to classic minimalists such as Steve Reich, the programme includes works where acoustic instruments meet pre-recorded electronic sounds. Some of these pieces are heavily influenced by club music, pushing classical musicians out of their comfort zones and into new territories.
RAIN VILU viola
SEULKI LEE cello
NINA KAWAGUCHI violin
EGERT LEINSAAR violin
SANDRA KLIMAITĖ viola
THEODOR SINK cello
TAAVI ORRO clarinet
MARI-LIIS VIND flute
The series is sponsored by Nordic Catering
Richard Wagner/Joseph Swensen
Ring Odyssey
In November, conductor Joseph Swensen returns to ERSO, this time with a large-scale project. In May 2023, his Ring Odyssey was performed for the first time ever in Toulouse. It is a musical journey based on Richard Wagner’s tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen that passes through all four operas. It offers a rare opportunity to listen to the music of the tetralogy, lasting 15 hours altogether in the original, condensed into a single concert.
Soprano Aile Asszonyi and tenor Mati Turi will perform the solos. Asszonyi’s dramatic soprano is particularly well-suited for major roles in the operas of Wagner and Strauss. She is the second Estonian to perform at one of the most powerful opera events in the world – the Bayreuth Wagner Festival. Mati Turi has sung a number of roles in Wagner’s works as well. His latest performance with Asszonyi was in Tristan and Isolde produced by Theatre Vanemuine. The musicians of the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre Symphony Orchestra will join ERSO on the stage.
The series is sponsored by Nordic Catering
Heino Eller
Homeland Tune
Peeter Vähi
Blue Collage (premiere)
Artur Lemba
Piano Concerto No. 2 in E minor
Sergei Bortkiewicz
Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat major, Op. 16
The first concert in the ‘Romance’ series brings conductor Neeme Järvi together with his long-time musical partners on the stage of the Estonia Concert Hall: Triin Ruubel on violin, Indrek Leivategija on cello, and Anna Shelest on piano. Ruubel and Leivategija will perform the solos of Peeter Vähi’s Blue Collage. The concert programme includes Piano Concerto No. 2 by Artur Lemba, one of the brightest pianists in Estonian music history. Lemba’s works are characterised by a combination of classical and romantic styles and a lyrical sound.
The programme also includes Piano Concerto No. 1 by Sergei Bortkiewicz, a Romantic composer of Ukrainian descent. His compositions are heavily influenced by the music of Liszt, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, and other nineteenth-century greats. Anna Shelest, the soloist for the piano concerti, is an artist with numerous international accolades, who has enchanted audiences across the world. The New York Times has described her as a pianist of ‘a fiery sensibility and warm touch.’
TRIIN RUUBEL violin
INDREK LEIVATEGIJA cello
ANNA SHELEST klaver
ERSO, conductor NEEME JÄRVI
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