Arvo Pärt's 90th birthday celebrated with concerts across Estonia
This month, there are concerts being held across Estonia to celebrate world-renowned composer Arvo Pärt's 90th birthday.
The opening concert of the "Pärt Days" marking the 90th birthday of Estonia's world-renowned composer, which was held in Tartu on Wednesday September 2. The performance will be repeated in Tallinn at the Estonia Theater on Thursday, September 3.
Over the next ten days, the composer's works will be performed in concert halls and churches throughout the country – from Viljandi to Viimsi, Hiiumaa to Narva.
At the opening concert in Tartu, there was not a single empty seat in the house as the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and the Vox Clamantis ensemble performed a selection of Pärt's greatest works. Among them were "Adam's Lament," "Stabat Mater," "Te Deum" and "In principio."
"A very important work in this program is 'Adam's Lament,' which is very diplomatic. It was written as if it were about today," explained conductor Tõnu Kaljuste, who is also the artistic director of the "Pärt Days."
"It is a kind of message of peace to the whole world, because Adam, the progenitor of humanity, tells his story and calls on people to be reasonable," added Jaan-Eik Tulve, artistic director of Vox Clamantis.
The lyrics also help people to fully appreciate the beauty and depth of Pärt's music as well as understand its meaning.
"All the music is beautiful, the music is not complicated. But the most important thing is that people want to understand. Our concert has really good booklets containing all the lyrics," said Kaljuste.
This year, all Estonian ensembles and orchestras whose repertoire includes the composer's works are participating in the "Pärt Days" events. Concerts will be held in a dozen cities across Estonia. On Saturday, September 6, Pärt's music will be performed in Narva.
"The most important thing for me is that we are going to Narva. It has some of the best acoustics – in Alexander's Church (Aleksandri Suurkirik). There we will perform 'Te Deum.' It is a very big and beautiful work. I am really looking forward to this concert," said Kaljuste.
Next week, as part of the festival, the Vox Clamantis ensemble will present a new album featuring some of Pärt's music.
"'O Holy Father Nicolas' is a work commissioned by Pärt for the opening of a chapel, which was built on the site of a terrorist attack in New York. And 'Für Jan van Eyck' is a piece that is very close to my heart. Or one of Pärt's most mystical compositions, 'Ja ma kuulsin hääle' in Estonian, which gave me a very clear understanding of what eternal life means," said Tulve.
More information about the concerts in Estonia to celebrate Arvo Pärt's 90th birthday is availale (in Estonian) here.
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Editor: Michael Cole, Jevgenia Zõbina
