II: VOLMER AND MAHLER • The Romance series

Arvo Pärt

Swansong

Benjamin Britten

Violin Concerto, Op. 15

Gustav Mahler

Symphony No. 6 in A minor

BENJAMIN BEILMAN violin, ERSO, Conductor ARVO VOLMER

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.