Untold riches - music from Estonia & the Baltic at the Oxford Lieder Festival

Miina Härma

From Tallin to St Petersburg, Solitudes; Kai Rüütel, Roger Vignoles, Mr McFall's Chamber; Oxford Lieder Festival at the Holywell Music Room
Reviewed by Robert Hugill on 17 October 2018
Star rating: 4.5
Estonia and the Baltic was the theme for a pair of concerts which revealed little-known riches

This year's Oxford Lieder Festival is celebrating the Grand Tour, and as well as the major stops in European music we have some less well known musical cultures. As part of my day at the festival on Thursday 17 October 2018, I caught their visit to the Baltic. The evening recital was given by the Estonian mezzo-soprano Kai Rüütel and pianist Roger Vignoles; From Tallin to St Petersburg gave us a flavour of the various influences in Estonian music with songs by Estonian composers from the 19th and 20th centuries, Russians Sergei Rachmaninov and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and the German Johannes Brahms (who was from the Hanseatic port of Hamburg). The rush hour concert was given by the Scottish group Mr McFall's Chamber who presented a programme of Baltic instrumental music, with works from Estonia, Latvia and Finland, including some Finnish tango! And to give us a flavour of the Estonian language being sung in the evening, the day started with a useful Estonian language lab, where Kerli Liksor introduced us to the basics of the Estonian language.

For the evening concert at Holywell Music Room, Kai Rüütel and Roger Vignoles' programme From Tallinn to St Petersburg brought out the different foreign links to Estonian music. Though a Russian colony in the 19th century, Estonia had a long tradition of being locally governed by a German merchant class thanks to the Hanseatic links. So whilst 19th century composers went to study in St Petersburg, the peasants also adopted German habits which is where how the Estonian tradition of communal song developed.

Ester Mägi

Rüütel had clearly put a lot of thought into the programme, not only did she sing the entire thing from memory but she had contributed English translations to many of the Estonian songs. Luckily the programme was being recorded by the BBC for broadcast on BBC Radio 3 at some future date.

We started with a song by Miina Härma (1864-1941), I cannot stay silent. Härma studied at the St Petersburg Conservatoire, and is still revered in Estonia as a choral composer and conductor and in fact I cannot stay silent (written in 1896) is often sung by choirs. An elegiac, folk-like piece, Rüütel sang it unaccompanied.

The Brahms group followed, four songs from his Fünf Lieder, op.105 written between 1885 and 1886. Wie Melodien though nicely flowing was perhaps a little too sober and serious, but it did give us a fine flavour of Rüütel's rich-toned mezzo-soprano. She relaxed more into Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer which was beautifully shaped with a sense of a still, quiet centre, and a moment of vibrant drama towards the end. Klage was lighter and more characterful, though still with a serious demeanour. Auf dem Kirchhofe started with Roger Vignoles' dramatic piano, and the vocal line had the feeling of dramatic recitative, again very focused, serious and intent.

A group of songs by Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943) followed. In the silence of the forest was full of melancholy longing, with its evocatively chromatic piano and richly romantic vocal line, sung by Rüütel with lots of vibrant yet focused tone. The Soldier's Wife was still melancholy, yet a little folk-inspired with a haunting melismatic passage at the end. How fair is this spot flowed beautifully, moving from a sense of longing to a radiant end.

Prom 42: the first Estonian orchestra at the Proms - Paavo Järvi and the Estonian Festival Orchestra

Paavo Järvi and the Estonian Festival Orchestra (Photo © Kaupo Kikkas)

Pärt, Grieg, Sibelius; Estonian Festival Orchestra, Khatia Buniatishvili, Paavo Järvi; BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall Reviewed by Robert Hugill on 13 August 2018 Star rating: 4.5 (★★★★½)
For its first appearance at the Proms, the Estonian Festival Orchestra gave us a striking mix of Nordic and Baltic composers, ending with a gripping account of Sibelius Symphony No. 5

2018 is the centenary of Estonian independence and contributing to the celebrations Paavo Järvi and the Estonian Festival Orchestra made their first appearance at the BBC Proms (the first appearance of an Estonian orchestra at the Proms). On Monday 13 August 2018 at the Royal Albert Hall, they performed music from three Nordic & Baltic countries, Arvo Pärt's Symphony No. 3 (from Estonia), Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto (from Norway) and Jean Sibelius' Symphony No. 5 (from Finland). The pianist in the Grieg was the Georgian pianist Khatia Buniatishvili.

Arvo Pärt's Symphony No. 3 was written in 1971, a period of transition for the composer when he was re-considering his technique and would eventually create the tintinabuli style for which he is best known. This symphony has moved away from the modernist style of his earlier works whilst it has not yet reached the tintinabuli style. Written in a single movement with three sections playing continuously, the work is based around a series of motifs which evoke plainsong, and it is this medieval style of musical discourse which dominates the symphony.

The piece started with a single clarinet line, evocative and rather mysterious in its neo-medieval shaping. Pärt shapes his material in blocks, sometimes a single line, sometimes a few instruments and sometimes the whole orchestra, and silence is important. This is one of the pointers to his later style. Pärt's writing for single instruments, or a single musical line drew a strongly spiritual sense out of the piece. Conductor Paavo Järvi did not give a lot away, but he drew focussed, concentrated playing from his orchestra. The composer Arvo Pärt (now 82) was present for the performance, receiving huge applause at the end.

The Estonian Festival Orchestra is very much Paavo Järvi's orchestra. Founded in 2011 it is the orchestra in residence at Järvi's Pärnu Festival in Estonia, and the orchestra brings together Estonian musicians with musicians from all around the world, with players from many of the major orchestras.

Singing to create a national identity: the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

Esonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir (Photo Kaupo Kikkas)

Arvo Pärt, Jonathan Harvey, Cyrillus Kreek, Veljo Tormis; Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Kaspars Putninš ; Milton Court Concert Hall
Reviewed by Ruth Hansford on Jan 30 2018
Star rating: 4.0
A hundred years of the land of song: Estonia celebrates centenary in fine choral style

This sold-out concert in Milton Court on 30 January 2018 by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, conductor Kaspars Putninš, marked the centenary of the Republic of Estonia and was attended by the Estonian Prime Minister. The first half of the evening was dedicated to the most internationally famous Estonian composer, Arvo Pärt, and the second covered his musical forbears and contemporaries, Cyrillus Kreek, Veljo Tormis and Jonathan Harvey. Nicholas Kenyon introduced the proceedings by saying that Britain and Estonia are bound by a strong tradition of choral singing and in Estonia it is integrated into national life. “Now,” he said, “it is more important than ever”. Several British people I eavesdropped on in the interval were commenting on the fact that it looks set to shrink here.

Meurig Bowen summed up Pärt’s changing style in his programme notes: the standard view is that he started out as avant-garde bad-boy writing “black-note complexity”, went quiet for a decade and came out writing other-wordly “white-note loveliness”. The first piece we heard, from 1962, was Solfeggio – “do re mi fa sol la si…” in C major that starts off simply and builds in complexity. A long way from the Von Trapp Family Singers’ version, and a wonderful introduction.

Celebrating Estonian style - the stylishly distinctive Estonian Voices

Estonian Voices (Photo Sohvi Viik)

Estonian Voices at the London A Cappella Festival; Kings Place
Reviewed by Robert Hugill on Jan 25 2018 Jazz, pop, and folk merge in the distinctive personality of this talented Estonian group

The London A Cappella Festival opened at Kings Place on Wednesday 24 January 2018 with something of a double celebration, as the performance from Estonian Voices was not only the group's UK debut but marked one of the UK celebrations for the centenary of Estonia's independence, Estonia 100.

Estonian Voices is a six person (Mirjam Dede, Maria Väli, Kadri Voorand, Mikk Dede, Rasmus Erismaa, Aare Külama) a cappella group whose performances mix jazz, folk and pop to create a very distinctive style. Singing is at the core of the Estonian character so it comes as no surprise to find a group like Estonian Voices creating jazz-inspired arrangements of traditional Estonian songs. Their opening set had a number of these, the distinctive tang of the Estonia traditional melodies giving a piquant flavour to the mix, as if Manhattan Transfer had started channelling Appalachian folk music (an unlikely, but potent mix).

There were quite a number of Estonians in the audience, including the Estonian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Tiina Intelmann, who spoke before the concert started, and all found the lyrics of the songs amusing but such was the communicability of the music that we didn't really need words.

We did not just get folk music, there was a medley of children's songs at the end of the second set and, rather amazingly, a children's song written by the young Arvo Pärt, about a little motor scooter! And whilst there were songs by other writers, such as Herbie Hancock and Horace Silver, the majority of the music was the group's own with many songs penned by its alto Kadri Voorand.

Tallinn Spring: Obscure Avenues - listening in the dark

Obscure Avenues was perhaps the most intriguing and thought provoking event at this year's Estonian Music Days. Participants met at a bus in Tallinn's Freedom Square, where they were blind-folded then taken by bus to an unspecified location. There, guided by helpers (not blindfolded), they were taken on a journey through a post-industrial space full of sounds. There were two pauses for concerts, one electronic, one acoustic instruments, before the participants were returned to their starting point, had their blindfolds taken off and received a card which told them what they have just heard, printed black on black so only read with difficulty (full details of the performers, location and music performed is at the end of this article).

Obscure Avenues was run twice on Saturday 8 April 2017, and I took part in the second performance Now, here I have to confess that I did not participate properly; I do not react well to being blind-folded so was permitted to attend as an observer. But talking to a couple of participants afterwards, they commented that it was one of the most though provoking events of the festival. Usually listening to live music is a communal experience, but here you felt completely alone. Taking part raised an enormous number of reactions and thoughts.

Watching the event, it was impressive the way the guides were able to help the blind-folded participants, showing them (generally in linked groups of five or six), where to go, when to descend steps. What was notable was the gentleness and quiet efficiently with which the guides made everything happen as the participants were taken on a complex journey.

Tallinn Spring: Contemporary classics & world premiers from Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, conductor Kaspars Putniņš, in Mirjam Tally's The Land of Tree Worshippers
at Estonian Music Days (Photo Peeter Langovits)

Jonathan Harvey, György Ligeti, Salvatore Sciarrino, Tatjana Kozlova-Johannes, Evelin Seppar, Mirjam Tally; Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Kaspars Putniņš; Estonian Music Days at Niguliste
Reviewed by Robert Hugill on Apr 8 2017
Star rating: 4.5
Strong performances in this challenging choral programme

For the first concert of Saturday 8 April 2017 at the Estonian Music Days, we returned to Niguliste for a recital by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, conducted by Kaspars Putniņš. The programme mixed contemporary classics with new Estonian music, Jonathan Harvey's Mortuos plango, vivos voco, György Ligeti's Lux aeterna, Salvatore Sciarrino's Responsorio delle tenebre, and the premieres of Tatjana Kozlova-Johannes' To my End and to its End, Evelin Seppar's Fields, my Fields and Mirjam Tally's The Land of the Tree Worshippers.

Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, conductor Kaspars Putniņš
at Estonian Music Days (Photo Peeter Langovits)

Mortuos plango, vivos voco by Jonathan Harvey (1939-2012) dates from 1977 and is for electronics only. Harvey developed the piece at IRCAM and it uses only the sounds of the singing of his son (a treble at Winchester Cathedral), and of the largest bell at Winchester which is engraved with the phrase 'Horos avolantes numero, mortuos planco, vivos ad preces voco' ('I count the hours flying by, I mourn the dead, I invite the living to pray'). The result is a remarkable transformation of the original material which somehow managed to stay true to the idea of a boy singing and a bell, both recognisable yet changed.

The 26 singers of the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, conductor Kaspars Putniņš, then performed To my End and to its End by Tatjana Kozlova-Johannes (born 1977), which set a text by the Palestinian poet Mahmud Darvis, a slightly intriguing dialogue between father and son as they struggle to find their way along a path. Kozlova-Johannes set the dialogue as solos divided between eight soloists (Ulle Tuisk, Annika Löhmus, Miina Pärn, Maarja Helstein, Susanna Paabumets, Joosep Trumm, Ott Kast & Henry Tiisma), surrounded by an atmospheric texture made up of hums, wordless music and non-pitched gestures, with the various lines of the solo emerging from and retreating into the choral texture, creating a strong sense of atmosphere and mystery. The individual soloists' English was rather variable, but the piece was about far more than just word setting.

Tallinn Spring: From Lepo Sumera to Liisa Hirsch, contemporary Estonian symphonic music

Johan Randvere, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Kristiina Poska at Estonian Music Days (Photo Peeter Langovits)

Liisa Hirsch, Tauno Aints, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Timo Steiner, Lepo Sumera, Peter Vähi; Theodor Sink, Johan Randvere, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Kristiina Poska and Peeter Vähi, Hele-Riin Uib; Estonian Music Days at the Estonia Concert Hall 
reviewed by Robert Hugill is Apr 7, 2017
Star rating: 4.5
25 years of Estonian contemporary music showcased in a stunning orchestra concert

Peeter Vähi and Hele-Riin Uib at Estonian Music Days

Saturday 7 April 2017 saw two events at Tallinn's concert hall and opera house complex, as part of this year's Estonian Music Days. First the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra gave a concert, conducted by Kristiina Poska gave the premieres of Liisa Hirsch's Threshold, Tauno Aints In Memoriam Veljo Tormi and, with pianist Johan Randvere, Timo Steiner's And then leave everything you've got and go', plus Erkki-Sven Tüür's Cello Concerto, with cellist Theodor Sink, and Lepo Sumera's Symphony No. 4 'Serena Borealis'. Then after the main concert, up on the roof composer Peeter Vähi (keyboards) and Hele-Riin Uib (percussion) performed Vähi's An April Night's Dream.

In fact it was very much a multi-part evening. At 6pm the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra & Kristiina Poska had performed A Young Person's Guide to  New Music by Brian Current (born 1972) for symphony orchestra, narrator and electronic sound files, with narrator Ardo Ran Varres. Then as we arrived for the main concert, the hall's lights were dimmed (reflecting the festival's theme, Through the dimness) and playing around us was Ekke Västrick's sound installation Contact with Concert Hall created by using contact microphones on the concert hall building.

Märt-Matis Lill, presented the LHV award 'Au-tasu'
to Toivo Tulev at the Estonian Music Days (Photo Peeter Langovits)

Before the main concert started, there was the presentation of the LHV award for new compositions “Au-tasu”, presented to the composer whose new musical work, premiered in 2016, garnered unanimous acclaim from the jury. This year the chair of the Estonian Composers’ Union, Märt-Matis Lill, presented the award to Toivo Tulev (born 1958) for Black Mirror.

Threshold by Liisa Hirsch (born 1984) started out with just a bass line and barely-there chords from the strings. The composer's programme note talked about the use of quarter tones and a special playing technique which muffled the string tone and altered pitch, but we were not aware so much of the exact mechanics as the rather eerie effect created. It was texture rather than harmony at first, though notes emerged and there was a slow build-up of overlapping chords which after rising to a climax, descended to nothing again.

Tauno Aints (born in 1975) on his Produced In Memoriam Veljo Tormis as a tribute to the personality, oeuvre and message of the great Estonian composer who died in January this year. The piece started with just a wandering melody on the violas, surrounded by sustained harmonies, gradually other instruments took up the melody but it remained in the middle of the sustained texture. As the tempo picked up, the faster moving textures preserved the idea of the main melody surrounded by accompaniment, as series of fast flowing textures developed into series of different metres played simultaneously by different groups of the orchestra. There was quite a Romantic modal feel to the piece, and I would have been intrigued to know whether any of the material that we were hearing related to Tormis' own work.

Tallinn Spring: Vox Clamantis at the Estonian Music Days

Galina Grigorjeva, Jaan-Eik Tulve, members of Vox Clamantis at Estonian Music Days (Photo Peeter Langovits)

Galina Grigorjeva, Cyrillus Kreek, Arvo Pärt; Vox Clamantis, Jaan-Eik Tulve; Estonian Music Days at Niguliste
Reviewed by Robert Hugill on Apr 6 2017
Star rating: 5.0
A stunning start to our Tallinn visit, concentrated intensity in a century of Estonian choral musc

Helena Tulve at Estonian Music Days
(Photo Peeter Langovits)

We are back in Tallinn for the Estonian Music Days (Eest Muusika Pàevad), the annual celebration of contemporary Estonian classical music organised by the Estonian Composers Union. This year the artistic directors are the composers Timo Steiner and Helena Tulve. Our first event, was the vocal ensemble Vox Clamantis, artistic director Jaan-Eik Tulve, performing in Niguliste, the former church which is now restored as a museum of religious art and preserves its fine acoustic in the nave. The concert started before it began with a scene setter involving four performers and glass bowls, which followed directly into the performance with the premiere of Galina Grigorjeva's Vespers, followed by a group of Cyrillus Kreek's psalms and finishing with two movements from Arvo Pärt's Kanon Pokajnen.

The concert's title was Evening Song, and when we arrived in the church four performers, Helena Tulve, Tatjana Kozlova-Johannes, Jandra Puusepp, Kärt Tönisson were providing a gentle introduction, letting us get into the mood of the concert. As they walked round the church, they were producing music on a fine array of pressed glass bowls, the results were completely magical and intriguing. It wasn't an obvious performance (so much so that when entering, I almost collided with Helena Tulve, carrying a glass bowl of water), yet it really drew you in. They led without a pause into Vespers by the Ukraine-born, Estonian-based composer Galina Grigorjeva (born 1962) performed by Vox Clamantis

Jaan-Eik Tulve and Vox Clamantis at Estonian Music Days (Photo Peeter Langovits)

Vox Clamantis, artistic director and conductor Jaan-Eik Tulve, is a vocal ensemble which specialises in performing Gregorian chant and early polyphony alongside contemporary music. Number some 14 singers (3,3,3,5) they made a strong, characterful sound and with the feel that the performers have been singing together for some time, such was the relaxed naturalism of their performances.

Olympic Committee history as Estonia appoint first non-sport ambassador, Kristjan Jarvi

Kristjan Järvi - photo Peter Rigaud

The Estonian Olympic Committee has appointed the conductor Kristjan Järvi to become a standing member of the national committee. This remarkable move makes history; Järvi is the first non-sporting person to be appointed to the committee.

Kristjan Järvi was born in Estonia but emigrated to the USA as a child. He is already highly involved in projects in Estonia and the Baltic region. He created the Baltic Sea Youth Philharmonic in 2008, and his Baltic Sea Philharmonic Orchestra, in 2015. Both groups draw on players from all 10 Baltic countries. Järvi and the Baltic Sea Philharmonic Orchestra will be touring the Baltic countries in September this year with violinist Gidon Kremer.

Järvi now is looking at ways to bring all types of music from classical to hip hop together in order to help the young especially get involved in sport and hopefully bring Olympic success to Estonia not just in the winter Olympics but the summer ones as well.

Much that was superb musically: Eugene Onegin from Belarus at Birgitta Festival in Tallinn

Tchaikovsky Eugene Onegin, Act 1 - National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet of Belarus at Birgitta Festival
photo Heiti Kruusmaa

Tchaikovsky Eugene Onegin; Anastasia Moskvina, Oksana Volkova, Vladimir Petrov, Yuri Gorodetsky, Andrei Valenty, dir: Valery Shishov/Alexander Prokhorenko, cond: Andrey Galanov
Reviewed by Robert Hugill on Aug 20 2016
Star rating: 4.0
Fine singing transforms a rather staid production from Belarus at the Birgitta Festival in Tallinn

Vladimir Petrov - photo Heiti Kruusmaa

For my second visit to the Birgitta Festival in Tallinn, Estonia on 20 August 2016, I heard the National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet of Belarus (based in Minsk) perform Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. The production, originally from 1986, was revised and refurbished in 2012. Valery Shishov directed the original production, with Alexander Prokhorenko being responsible for the 2012 revision, with designs by Dmitry Mokhov and choreography by Alexandra Tikhomirova. Andrey Galanov conducted, and the cast included Vladimir Petrov as Onegin, Anastasia Moskvina as Tatyana, Oksana Volkova as Olga, Yuri Gorodetsky as Lensky, and Andrey Valenty as Prince Gremin.

Overnight, since the ending of Requiem... and before the previous night (see my review), the temporary theatre within the ruined church of the Pirita Convent had been re-cast as a traditional proscenium theatre with pit. The production was relatively traditional even to using a painted back-drop and suspended flats in a style which has rather gone out of fashion in the UK. But the results had an effective charm, especially when combined with the traditional but well thought out costumes, with the ensembles in each act forming attractive stage pictures.

Anastasia Moskvina, Oksana Volkova - photo Heiti Kruusmaa

There was an economy to the design, so the white drapes from the Act Two dance at Madam Larina's re-appeared for the Gremin's ball, and the duel was performed on a re-dressed set of the previous scene. The whole production was firmly set in Pushkin's era, and was a traditional narrative telling of the tale, without any major directorial interventions. The plot was very much taken at face value so any depth or interpretation depended on the individual singers.

That mounting the production in such a short time was a challenge was indicated by some haphazard moments in the lighting plot. And the depth of the stage was clearly less than that in Minsk, as there was some awkwardness in fitting the choreography of the polonaise in Act Three to the new layout.

The overall production style was traditional too, not to say rather staid and old-fashioned with none of the detailed naturalism and personen-regie that we have come to expect in the West. Anastasia Moskvina's impassiveness as Tatyana in the first two acts rather made the character seem dim, and only Yuri Gorodetsky as Lensky created a sense of visual character; with his long hair (his own) and slight frame he looked every inch the fragile poet.

This was a performance which was all about the voices and musically there was very much that was superb.

Magical evenings of opera and ballet in Tallinn - the Birgitta Festival

The Birgitta Festival in Tallinn

The ruins of the 16th century St Bridget's Convent, with their huge triangular gable, are a notable attraction in Tallinn, Estonia , but in the Summer they become transformed, forming the theatrical venue for the Birgitta Festival. From the 13 to 19 August 2016 this year the festival offers a programme of opera and ballet with Mozart's Cosi van tutte, and Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, ballet to Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet and to Bizet's Carmen as well as a theatrical piece Requiem ...and life before about Mozart. There are visiting companies from Minsk in Belarus, from Ekaterinburg in Russia, from Spain and from the UK, and both the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra are taking part.

There is a chance to experience a different Russian operatic tradition when the Minsk-based National Opera and Ballet of Belarus, music director Alexander Anisimov, will be conducted by Andrey Galanov in a production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, the production originally created by Valery Shishov and revived by Alexander Prokhorenko. Keeping to the Russian theme, the Ekaterinburg State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre are presenting Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet choreographed by Vyacheslav Samodurov and conducted by Alexey Bogorad.

The UK-based Black Cat Opera Company present Mozart's Cosi van tutte directed by Keiko Sumida and conducted by Peter Ford with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra in the pit. In complete contrast the Antonio Andrade Flamenco Company from Spain will be performing a flamenco-based dance work based on Bizet's Carmen.

Requiem... and life before is the festival's own production, an innovative theatre piece directed by Belgian director Joel Lauwers which mixes actors from the Estonian Drama Theatre and from France, with the Latvian State Choir and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra conducted by the young Estonian conductor Mihhail Gerts and soloists from Germany and the Estonian National Opera. The work mixes words from Mozart's letters with music from the Requiem to create something innovative and new.

For the festival, there is a temporary roof over church ruins to provide a comfortable environment for audience and performers, and there is a restaurant. So all is set for a magical evening.

Full information from the festival website.

A walking tour of Kalamaja

Having been in Tallinn, Estonia recently for the Estonian Music Days, I have written about our non-musical exploits exploring the Kalamaja area of Tallinn in an article on the Culture Trip website.

A wander around the Kalamaja area of Tallinn in Estonia takes you past striking historic wooden houses, former industrial buildings reinvented as lively arts venues, and numerous delightful cafés; not to mention the former Russian sea plane harbor whose hangers now house large scale maritime exhibits. Read on for our walking tour of the area’s best art, cafes and everything in between.


Head over to The Culture Trip to read more.

The Dream Stream - Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

Kaspars Putnins and Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

Arvo Pärt, Helena Tulve, Märt-Matis Lill, Mahler/Clytus Gottwald; Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Kaspars Putnins; Estonian Music Days at Kultuurikatel
Reviewed by Robert Hugill on Apr 16 2016
Contemporary Estonian choral music from Arvo Pärt and younger Estonian composers

The final concert of the Estonian Music Days was one of the most striking. On 16 April 2015 in the large hall of Kultuurikatel (Cultural Cauldron), the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir under its Latvian conductor Kaspars Putnins performed music by three Estonians, Arvo Pärt (born 1935), Helena Tulve (born 1972) and Märt-Matis Lill (born 1975) alongside four of Clytus Gottwald's arrangements of Mahler. We heart Pärt's Summa and The Woman with the Alabaster Box, Tulve's Lost and Lill's Niehkkoaja (The Dream Stream).

Kaspars Putnins and Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

The choir fielded 25 voices and in Arvo Pärt's Summa (which uses the Latin text from the Creed) they displayed a remarkable combination of strength and vibrancy of line. The singers gave a wonderfully natural sense to the music, as if they had been singing it all their lives. In both Pärt pieces the uneven rhythms and bar-lengths, and pauses were precisely done but in a finely relaxed manner which hardly called attention to itself.

In Pärt's The Woman with the Alabaster Box it was noticeable that the high sopranos did not have the sort of white sound we expect in the UK (think Tallis Scholars or The Sixteen), instead there was a lovely tactile quality to the sound whilst remaining transparent. My only niggle was that the English was not quite as idiomatic as it could have been. Overall the piece had quite a soft grained feel, with the low key naturalism I mentioned above. The climax, when it came, was strong and powerful. As performers the singers were quite undemonstrative, but the performance was mesmerising.

Helena Tulve's Lost as written in 2014 but this was the first performance of the complete work. Tulve set three American poets, David Waggoner's Lost based on instructions given to children by Native American parents, Walt Whitman's Out of the rolling ocean and e.e.cummings i carry your heart with me. All three expressed a sense of connectedness with the environment.

Spring in Tallinn - new Estonian orchestral music

Anu Tali, Estonian Voices, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra

Maria Körvits, Mari Vihmand, Mirjam Tally, Ulo Krigul, Lepo Sumera; Anu Tali, Leho Karin, Estonian Voices, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra; Estonian Music Days at the Estonia Concert Hall
Reviewed by Robert Hugill on Mar 13 2016
Five new works including three world premieres in this orchestral showcase of Estonian contemporary music

Anu Tali

The Estonian Music Days is the oldest music festival in Estonia and was founded in 1979. This year under the artistic directorship of Helena Tulve and Timo Steiner the festival had the theme of Green Sound, bringing into the festival ideas of what it might mean to be green or ecological in music. There are around 60 new works being performed at the festival, with 30 premieres, and an opportunity to hear a range of Estonian composers from students through to the well established.

At the Estonia Concert Hall in Tallinn on Friday 15 April 2016, a concert by the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, conductor Anu Tali, brought together music by composers born in 1950, in 1987 and a range between. The programme consisted of falling up into the bowl of sky by Maria Körvits, Floreo by Mari Vihmand (born 1967), Erosion for amplified cello, orchestra and electronics by Mirjam Tally (born 1976), Understandards by Ulo Krigul (born 1978) and Symphony No. 6 by Lepo Sumera (1950-2000). The orchestra was joined by Leho Karin (amplified cello), Estonian Voices (Kadri Voorand, Mikk Dede, Mirjam Dede, Maria Vä, Ramus Erismaa and Aar Kü), and Tammo Sumera (electronics and sound engineering).

The concert was preceded by the presentation of a new composers prize, the Au-Tasu award. It was sponsored by the LHV Bank, the first time an Estonian bank as provided this type of sponsorship and sufficiently newsworthy for the event to be recorded for an item on the main Friday evening news on Estonian television. Märt-Matis Lill, chairman of the Estonian Composers Union, presented the prize to Liisa Hirsch for Ascending Descending which premiered at last year's Estonian Music Days (see my review of the work's premiere).

Introducing the varioola - Estonia's first electronic instrument

Kirstjan Randalu and the varioola

Mart Siimer, Margo Kölar, Malie Maltis, Marianna Liik; Kirke Karja, Kristjan Randalu, Mart Siimer; Estonian Music Days at the Estonian National Library
Reviewed by Robert Hugill on Mar 13 2016
Estonia's first electronic instrument given new life with four new pieces

Kirke Karja, Kirstjan Randalu and the varioola

You have probably never heard of the varioola, and I suspect that few people in Estonia have heard of it either but the varioola is the first electronic musical instrument to be made in Estonia. As part of this year's Estonian Music Days (Eesti Muusika Paevad), the instrument has been revived and restored and at the National Library of Estonia we heard the instrument played by Kirke Karja, Kristjan Randalu and Mart Siimer in music by Mart Siimer (born 1967), Margo Kölar (born 1961), Malle Maltis (born 1977) and Marianna Liik (born 1997). All four works in the programme were world premieres.

The National Library of Estonia is something of an historical icon itself, built in 1985 towards he Soviet era by an Estonia architect, Raine Karp, it is a monolithic stone building which references traditional Estonian design. The building includes a lecture theatre where the lecture recital took place. The varioola was an impressive looking instrument with fine cabinet work, which included two keyboards, numerous switches and pedal controls. Afterwards a chance to look at the instrument more closely revealed that the interior was a mass of circuitry and valves.

The idea for constructing the varioola arose in 1955 after hearing a German electronic instrument on the radio. Heino Pedusaar and Anatol Sügis did it as the result of a bet, Pedusaar being a musician and Sügis a technician. Sügis was present at the concert and explained that with electronic circuitry extremely difficult to get hold of in Soviet Estonia the instrument had been constructed out of parts left over and unwanted in factories. Once built it was used in popular music, theatre, films and plays but more recently it was in a museum and then in storage until the idea to restore it arose. Sügis has spent the last six months restoring the instrument, though it remains capricious so that the composers and performers not only had to learn new techniques, but had to cope with the instrument's uncertainty and the fact that Sügis had to be on hand to remedy any problems.

East of Tallinn: Orient music festival Part III - concerts

Ensemble Indra from Japan, Orient Music Festival, Tallinn - photo credit Hilary Glover

After the first day of the Orient music festival, organised by Tiina Jokinen (from Estonia Record Productions: ERP) and composer Peeter Vähi, with its ethnomusicology conference, film premiere, and after show party in the Latvian Embassy, the music could really begin.

The first concert was the spectacular Indra, Taiko drummers from Japan. Ensemble Indra (Ishizuka Yū, Ishizuka Eri, Inoue Nanase, Ōkawa Masashi, and Motoyama Yūhei) are a family-based group founded in 2013 by Ishizuka Yū (the eldest son of a well-known noh musician (hayashikata) Mochizuki Saburō).

In Hinduism, Indra is a heroic god, who slew the stone dragon and freed the seven rivers. He is the King of gods as well as being the god of rain and thunderstorms – quite apt for this group of cheerfully fierce drummers. Indra are as much about show and choreography as they are about music and have incorporated hayashi and buyō styles into their routine as well as noh and kabuki.

Extra atmosphere was added to their performance by the venue. The weather was fortunately dry enough for the audience to sit outside (with cushions and blankets provided) so that the concert could take place in the Japanese gardens of Kadriorg Park.

Estonia music showcase

Kaspars Putnins and Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
at Hoddinott Hall

As a complement to the lunchtime performance by the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra at Hoddinott Hall on Friday 24 May 2015 (see my review), the Estonian Embassy organised an event which presented contemporary Estonian music in greater detail with a short performance from the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, and interviews with its conductor Kaspars Putnins, along with composers Tõnu Kõrvits, Helena Tulve and Märt-Matis Lill all of whom had works performed during the 2015 Vale of Glamorgan Festival. There was also a chance to meet other representatives of the Estonian music industry and peruse scores and recordings from the Estonian Music Information Centre. Having recently been in Tallinn for Estonian Music Days (see my articles), it was a chance for me to catch up with old friends too. (We have more coverage from Tallinn as Hilary is currently there for the Festival Orient).

Tallinn Chamber Orchestra

The event was compered by the Welsh composer Peter Reynolds, and we started with a short film. This was followed by an interview with the managing director of the Tallinn Philharmonic Society, Margit Tohver-Aints, and two members of the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra. They explained that the idea behind the programme of the orchestra's lunchtime concert (see my review) which we had just heard was to give an overview of Estonian music, with music from two elder statesmen Jaan Rääts and Arvo Pärt, and two subsequent generations Ekki-Sven Tuur, and Tõnu Kõrvits.

East of Tallinn: Orient music festival

Hakassian folk music and dance ensemble - Ülger

The Orient music festival in Tallinn, Estonia, began its week long activities with an afternoon ethno-musicology conference, a film premiere and ambassador's reception (25 May 2015). After a welcome address by the festival organiser Peeter Vähi and by the former First Lady of Estonia, Estonian folklorist, and patron of the festival, Ingrid Rüütel, the conference began with a demonstration of quanun (a kind of zither) by Samir Ally Salim and went on to cover ancient empires of Africa, the culture and traditions of the Shona people, the Taarab song tradition in Zanzibar, Hakassian throat singing and Buddhist temple music, finishing with Martin Grauds and Ilze Apsina's film, 'The way home'.

The first session 'Ancient Empires of Africa' by Tiina Jokinen, who was just back from a trip to Papua New Guinea, pointed out that, unlike America, Africa has always been a world centre of migration and trade. Much of the known history comes from written accounts by the Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Arabs, but there was also trade with China. Even before the arrival by the Portuguese in the 15th century there were European fortune hunters in Africa. The Portuguese were followed by the British in the 16th century, and then the rest of Europe from the 17th century onwards. By the 19th century missionaries appeared, the forerunner to colonisation, wars and decolonisation of modern history.

Estonian Music Days - day three, live on the radio

Tallinn Chamber Orchestra in Studio 1
of Estonian Public Broadcasting
photo Mait Juriado

Kristjan Randalu, Liisa Hirsch, Elis Vesik, Sander Pehk, Mariliis Valkonen, Helena Tulve, Kirstaps Petersons; Triin Ruubel, Juta Ounapuu-Mocanita, Triin Piirsalu, Triinu Veissmann, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Atvars Lakstigala; Estonian Music Days at 1st Studio of Estonian Public Broadcasting
Reviewed by Robert Hugill on Apr 12 2015
Star rating: 4.0
New music for violins and string orchestra in a live radio broadcast

My last visit to Estonian Music Days in Tallinn saw me attending a live radio broadcast in Studio 1 of Estonian Public Broadcasting. Though the radio has a beautifully refurbished modern office (and I was privileged to get a trip round Klassika Raadio's 9th floor offices), the original post-war building (housing Studio 1) is still in use and about to be refurbished.

So on Sunday 12 April 2015, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra conducted by the young Latvian conductor Atvars Lakstigala performed a programme of music by Kristjan Randalu, Liisa Hirsch, Elis Vesik, Sander Pehk, Mariliis Valkonen, Helena Tulve and Kristaps Petersons with violinists Triin Ruubel and Juta Ounapuu-Mocanita. The music in the programme was mainly for strings, to which were added percussion at times. Though the programme was called Two Ladies there were in fact four violinists, as two of Triin Ruubel's young pupils Triin Piirsalu and Triinu Veissmann played Sander Pehk's piece as part of Mini-EMD. Remarkably, ALL the works in the programme were premieres.

We started with the premiere of Emigrane for string orchestra which was written in 2015 by Kristjan Randalu (born 1978). Using two contrasting ideas, vibrant polytonal chords and a more lyrical theme, Kristjan Randalu created a dynamic piece which had references to the style and genre of a variety of familiar string orchestral works.

Estonian Music Days - day two, Polish/Estonian collaboration and a cartoon

Song Festival Grounds in Tallinn - photo Robert Hugill

Maria Korvits, Age Veeroos, Tonu Korvits, Mari Vihmand, Ewa Fabianska-Jelinska, Witold Lutoslawski, Michal Ossowski, Rafal Zapala, Artur Kroschel, and Kazimierz Serocki; Sepia Ensemble; Estonian Music Days at Tallinn Secondary Science School
Reviewed by Robert Hugill on Apr 11 2015
Star rating: 4.0
Estonian/Polish interaction in this concert by a Polish ensemble spanning music of two countries

My second day at the Estonian Music Days in Tallinn started with a sightseeing tour, spending two hours walking round the Toompea and the historic Old Town, and then driving out to the Song Festival Grounds. These are used for all sorts of music events, but their main focus is the Song Festival. Established in the 19th century, this festival (originally every 3 year and now every 5 years) gathers thousands of people together to sing national songs. The Song Festival Grounds were the focus for spontaneous singing demonstrations in 1988 which helped lead to the overthrow of the Soviet regime in the Singing Revolution. 

Ensemble Sepia - photo Peeter Larvits

Then at 6pm we assembled in the hall of Tallinn Secondary Science School (Tallinna Reaalkooli Saal), a handsome late 19th or early 20th century building with a hall far grander than we had when I was at school. We were there to listen to the Polish new music ensemble, Ansambel Sepia (Sepia Ensemble) performing their Zooming: Estonia programme. The programme was a collaboration between Estonia and Poland and the ensemble has already presented a similar one in their native Poznan. The first half of the programme contained new Estonian music from Maria Korvits, Age Veeroos, Tonu Korvits and Mari Vihmand, whilst the second half contained new and contemporary Polish music from Ewa Fabianska-Jelinska, Witold Lutoslawski, Michal Ossowski, Rafal Zapala, Artur Kroschel, and Kazimierz Serocki.

The Sepia Ensemble was founded by Artur Kroschel and Rafal Zapala in 2012, and consists of graduates and higher level student of the IJ Paderewski Academy of Music in Pozanan. There is a core of 12 musicians who perform in various combinations; we heard Paulina Gras-Lukasewska (flute), Szymon Jozwiak (clarinet), Wojciech Jelinski (trombone), Tomasz Sosniak (piano), Aleksandra Dzwonkowska (percussion), Olga Winkowska and Anna Podsiadly (violins), Tomasz Citak (viola), Anna Szmatola (cello), Mateusz Loska (double bass), with artistic director Artur Kroschel.