IV: ELTS AND MAHLER • The Maestro series

Erkki-Sven Tüür

Cello Concerto No. 2 (premiere)

Gustav Mahler

Symphony No. 5

NICOLAS ALTSTAEDT cello, ERSO, conductor OLARI ELTS

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 London Philharmonic 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.