Broadcasts
Season Opening Concert
Description
This season-opening concert is more festive and special than usual – ENSO presents their new chief conductor and artistic director, Olari Elts. The key phrase of the 94th season is Ludwig van Beethoven. In December, we will celebrate the 250th anniversary of his birth, and the season is guided by the musical revolution that was sparked by his musical genius and creation.
Both Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and Eroica are among the most ground-breaking works in their genres. Olari Elts calls Eroica one of the first political manifestos in music history, and according to him, it was Eroica, one of Beethoven’s highest musical statues of liberty, that marked the beginning of the concert tradition in the form that we know today. ‘It is a composition that was largely responsible for the emergence of the art of interpretation. It influenced the transition of concert life from salons to concert halls, and it is the first symphonic work that can be called avant-garde or transcending traditional boundaries.’
The soloist of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto is Sergey Khachatryan, who was born in Armenia and has performed in the best orchestras in the world. In 2000, at the age of 15, he won the VIII International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition in Helsinki, and five years later, he won the first prize at the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in Brussels. Beethoven’s Violin Concerto has a special place in his repertoire. In 2006, he made his debut in New York, playing this work. His first joint performances with Olari Elts also date back almost 20 years, when they had both recently won the Sibelius Competition – Khachatryan winning the violin competition and Elts winning the conducting competition.
The opening pieces of the concert, as well as the puff of clouds in the visuals of the concert, are based on the current mood across the globe. ‘I think that for everyone involved with music or theatre, this year has been the most apocalyptic year in their career,’ said Olari Elts, describing the situation. ‘It is known that even during the war, concerts and theatre performances continued, offering comfort and consolation to people fighting on the front lines and the home front alike. With Lyadov’s From the Apocalypse, written on the eve of the First World War, we summarise the current situation. We express gratitude to all those who have been to the front lines in battling the global pandemic. As the concert happens to take place on the symbolic date of 11 September, we will also dedicate the concert to the heroes and victims of the event which took place 19 years ago. 11 September is also the birthday of Arvo Pärt and we will, naturally, start the season with his music.’
Programme
Arvo Pärt
Arbos
Anatoly Lyadov
From Apocalypse
Ludwig van Beethoven
Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61
INTERMISSION
Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 3 Eroica in E flat major, Op. 55
Performers
SERGEY KHACHATRYAN violin
Estonian National Symphony Orchestra
Conductor OLARI ELTS
Concert is presented by Epiim.
ERSO TV broadcasts are created in cooperation with Estonian Public Broadcasting.
Presenter Lisete Velt
Engineer Siim Mäesalu
Helipilt Grupp OÜ
Priit Perend
Tammo Sumera
Mait Visnapuu