Concert series ‘AMADEUS’
This season, the concert series ‘Amadeus’ will once again pay homage to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, his contemporaries, and his followers. The series opens with the ERSO Christmas concert, which has proven to be one of the most popular events of the past seasons. 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. The concert is conducted by Olari Elts.
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.
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 is 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.
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.
I: CHRISTMAS CONCERT BY ERSO
Friday, 20 December 2024 at 7 p.m. at the Estonia Concert Hall
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
SUSANNE RULL flute, LISANNE RULL harp, ERSO, conductor OLARI ELTS
II: HENRI CHRISTOFER AAVIK AND BEETHOVEN
Friday, 7 February 2025 at 7 p.m. at the Estonia Concert Hall
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
SÉRGIO PIRES clarinet, ERSO, conductor HENRI CHRISTOFER AAVIK
III: VENZAGO AND BRUCKNER
Friday, 07 March 2025 at 7 p.m. at the Estonia Concert Hall
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
WILLIAM YOUN piano, ERSO, conductor MARIO VENZAGO
IV: MOZART AND BEETHOVEN
Friday, 4 April 2025 at 7 p.m. at the Estonia Concert Hall
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
MARIA WŁOSZCZOWSKA violin, ERSO