Kaljuste conducted the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir.

The Proms and the Royal Albert Hall are mystical places for Kaljuste, a place where some very different musical genres have converged over time. "This concert is a sign that our own musical activity has reached the point where, in such a context and during the year of Arvo Pärt's 90th birthday, interest is shown in both us and in Arvo Pärt. This is a pleasant sign, but nothing more than that — a concert like any other," the conductor told Klassikaraadio ahead of the event.

The evening also featured music by Estonian composers Veljo Tormis, Svetlana Grigorjeva. "The program ties together night music, evening music—such is the general title. It proceeds from inner peace and world peace to descriptions of specific wars. The dramaturgy of the concert can at times be quite shocking, but it plays with the various meanings of that word. That's what connects and frames this program," Kaljuste outlined.

Tormis' "Curse Upon Iron" has been in the choir's repertoire for half a century now. "It is one of the most powerful works in Estonian music, and I have witnessed from the very first performances how it changes within the performers and how it changes within me," Kaljuste said. The piece also includes movements which listeners, at least to the radio, have to imagine for themselves. "When the choir shouts out different texts by Paul-Eerik Rummo and Kaplinski — texts like those we encounter every day in newspapers: About various missiles and other instruments of killing — during that time, the choir moves in reaction," he noted.

According to Kaljuste, choirs usually skip the movements in "Curse Upon Iron."
However, "This time we decided to include what Tormis wrote there. We saw that these are truly relevant in the current times," he said.

On performing at the Albert Hall, Kaljuste added: "I don't know how they'll come across in such a huge space… but that's how the author intended it. For me, they bring the message across even more precisely."

Kaljuste had attended the Proms before, albeit in a different era, in the mid-1980s, while visiting his grandfather, who resided in England. "They performed Berlioz's The Trojans, Rozhdestvensky conducted, Jessye Norman sang," he recalled

What struck him most from that visit was the audience: "Everyone had a libretto in hand… when the story reached the point to turn the page, all 6,000 did so at once. That showed me the people here want to understand. In our own cultural space, that's still in an early phase."

As for the main focus of the evening, Arvo Pärt, whose 90th birthday comes in September, he stands out "both emotionally and dynamically," according to Kaljuste. He is "often called the master of silence, but behind it all is deep engagement, a silence that stems from something."

This quality, Kaljuste said, "helps guide listeners through past and future, and many come to Pärt's music out of personal need—you feel he helps balance your being in difficult situations."

Klassikaraadio's broadcast of Kaljuste and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir can be listened to here.

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