Estonian National Symphony Orchestra in Saaremaa

Saturday, June 15, 2024 at 6 p.m. Mustjala school, Saaremaa island

Estonian National Symphony Orchestra
Conductor Olari Elts
Soloist Triin Ruubel - violin

Program:
Liina Sumera - "Chimera" (2024) 

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy - Violin Concert in E minor, Op. 64
Intermission
Antonín Dvořák - Symphony No. 9 "From the New World", Op. 95

The Estonian National Symphony Orchestra (Eesti Riiklik Sümfooniaorkester, ERSO) – a vivid and versatile orchestra who’s always striving towards excellence. The unique position in the intersection of cultures brings together Nordic, Western and Russian musical traditions. Celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2026, ERSO has become the most prominent orchestral ambassador of Estonia abroad, powerfully increasing its international scope particularly in recent decades. Since the 2020/21 season, its Chief Conductor and Artistic Director is Olari Elts. Neeme Järvi, the longest-serving chief conductor of the ERSO, continues to cooperate with the orchestra as an Honorary Artistic Director for Life and the Artistic Adviser of the orchestra is Paavo Järvi.

The orchestra performs with renowned conductors and soloists from around the world, including, of course, most prominent Estonian musicians. ERSO’s CDs demonstrate a quality that has been recognised by several renowned music magazines and the orchestra has won several prizes, including a Grammy Award for the recording of cantatas by Sibelius. Its home venue is the Estonia Concert Hall in Tallinn and it has dazzled the world with numerous tours and participated in reputable international music festivals. They have played in prestigious venues such as the Konzerthaus Berlin, Musikverein in Vienna, Rudolfinum in Prague, Brucknerhaus in Linz, the Avery Fisher Hall (current David Geffen Hall) in New York, the Grand Hall of Saint Petersburg Philharmonia and the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre, the Kölner Philharmonie, the Helsinki Music Centre, Berwaldhallen in Stockholm, and many more. Some of the most recent festivals ERSO has attended include the Festival Radio France Occitanie Montpellier with Neeme Järvi and the Eufonie International Festival of Central and Eastern Europe in Warsaw under the baton of Olari Elts. One of the highlights of last season was a concert tour with Olari Elts and violinist Daniel Lozakovich, which took the orchestra to Isarphilarmonie in Munich, La Seine Musicale in Paris and Meistersingerhalle in Nuremberg. The season ended with another successful concert tour to Great Britain, where 11 concerts were given with pianist Barry Douglas under the baton of Olari Elts.

The orchestra has enjoyed fruitful cooperation with highly acclaimed record companies such as Chandos, BIS, and Onyx, and in the past also with Alba Records, Harmonia Mundi, and Melodiya. In addition to local radio and television channels, ERSO’s concerts have been broadcasted by Mezzo, medici.tv and they have also reached many radio listeners via the EBU. In 2020, the orchestra launched its own channel – erso.tv.

As for conductors and soloists, ERSO is fortunate to perform with the very best from all around the world, including front-rank Estonian musicians. Commanding a repertoire that ranges from the Baroque period to the present time, the ERSO has had the honour to premiere symphonic pieces by almost every Estonian composer, including Arvo Pärt, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Jüri Reinvere, and Eduard Tubin.

Olari Elts’ passion for distinctive programming rich with invention has earned him much praise on the international music scene. He began his tenure as Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra in 2020. Since 2018, he is also Artistic Advisor of the Kymi Sinfonietta.

Olari Elts has appeared as a guest conductor with such orchestras as Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Finnish Radio Symphony, Danish National Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Netherlands Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Dublin Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Budapest Festival Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra Ottawa, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Soloists with whom he collaborates include Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Gautier and Renaud Capuçon, Brett Dean, Isabelle Faust, Alban Gerhardt, Martin Grubinger, Martin Helmchen, Stephen Hough, Lucas & Arthur Jussen, Kari Kriikku, Simone Lamsma, Karita Mattila, Alexander Melnikov, Maxim Rysanov, Baiba Skride, Lara St. John, Simon Trpčeski, and Antoine Tamestit.

In the 2021/22 season, Elts will lead the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra on tour to Poland, as well as guest conduct orchestras with which he has regularly collaborated such as Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Staatskapelle Weimar, Slovenian Philharmonic and Sinfonietta Rīga. He also looks forward to his debut with Oslo Philharmonic, Prague Radio Symphony, Polish Baltic Philharmonic in Gdansk and further afield with Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec in Canada and National Symphony Orchestra in Taiwan. Other highlights include conducting a new ballet production based on the life of Sibelius, in celebration of the Finnish National Ballet’s 100^th year anniversary.

As a champion of contemporary Baltic composers such as Erkki-Sven Tüür and Heino Eller, Elts has released recordings of Heino Eller’s Symphonic Poems as well as Eller’s violin concerto with Baiba Skride and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. Also widely celebrated by critics are his Ondine recordings of Erkki-Sven Tüür works with Tapiola Sinfonietta including the viola concerto with Lawrence Power, and Tüür’s Symphony No. 5 for electric guitar, orchestra, big band and the accordion concerto Prophecy with the Helsinki Philharmonic. His 2016 recording of Brahms’ arrangements (Glanert, Berio) with Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra also won high praise. Elts’ discography also includes the Borgström and Shostakovich violin concertos with Eldbjørg Hemsing and the Wiener Symphoniker under the BIS label, and Poul Ruders Symphony No.5 with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra by Bridge Records. His upcoming release will feature music by Kalevi Aho, recorded with the Kymi Sinfonietta under the BIS label, and another disc of the same composer recorded with the Antwerp Symphony.

Elts also made his mark in the opera field, having conducted titles such as Eugene Onegin, Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Idomeneo, Berlioz’s La Damnation du Faust, etc. Crossing genres, Elts toured to the Konzerthaus Berlin with the theatre-concert production which combines Mendelssohn and Shakespeare’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream” with the Tallinn-based theatre company NO99. For Bernstein’s 100^th anniversary, Elts conducted the film “On the Waterfront” with live orchestral accompaniment of the soundtrack. Elts was Principal Guest Conductor of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra from 2007-2020 and held the same position at Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra from 2011-2014. He was also Artistic Advisor of the Orchestre de Bretagne from 2006-2011, Principal Guest Conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra from 2007-2010 and Chief Conductor of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra from 2001-2006. Born in Tallinn in 1971, Elts is founder of his contemporary music ensemble, NYYD Ensemble.

Triin Ruubel is an Estonian violinist who performs throughout Europe as a soloist and a chamber musician. Since April 2015 she holds the position of concertmaster of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. Born to a musical family in Tallinn, she began her first violin lessons at the age of six and entered the Tallinn Music High School. She recieved her Artist Diploma in Germnay at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Rostock, in the class of Prof. Petru Munteanu.

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Triin has performed as a soloist with Riga Sinfonietta, Haydn Orchestra Bolzano, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre des Jeunes d'Île-de-France (OJIF), Philarmonia of the Nations,  Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonisches Orchester Vorpommern and the Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock, with conductors like Neeme Järvi, Paavo Järvi, Arvo Volmer and Justus Frantz.

Triin’s interest in contemporary music has lead to collaborations with Wolfgang Rihm, Peter Ruzicka, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Jörg Widmann and others. Contemporary music has an important place in her solo repertoire.

She has also appeared as a guest Concertmaster with the Deutsche Kammerphilarmonie Bremen and Orchestre Philarmonique de Radio France. Being very keen on teaching, she joined the teaching facutly of the Estonian Academy of Music and Theater in September 2015. She teaches regularly at the Järvi Academy of the Pärnu Music Festival.

2020 Triin's debut CD with Edward Elgar's Violin Concerto was released. It was recorded with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and conductor Neeme Järvi.

Organizers:
NPO Loovüksus, artistic director Aare Tammesalu
Mustjala county, Kalle Kolter

Supporters:
Estonian Ministry of Culture
Saare County
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