National Symphony to Play St. Petersburg Philharmonic After 22 Years
The Estonian National Symphony Orchestra (ERSO) will perform in concert tomorrow at the St. Petersburg Philharmonic's legendary Great Hall for the first time since before re-independence.
Dedicated to the 80th birthday of Russian-Tatar composer Sofia Gubaidulina, the concert follows a similar one in her honor in Tallinn.
Concerts in the Great Hall have been associated with momentous occasions for ERSO in the past. The first ones in 1976 conducted by Neeme Järvi laid the foundation for annual - and popular - Leningrad tours that last over 10 years.
The last time the orchestra played there was 22 years ago, in 1990 when Eri Klas conducted Haydn's oratorio "The Creation."
On the program on March 29 are Gubadulina's works "Two Paths“ (1998), "The Rider on the White Horse“ (2002) and "Alleluia“ (1990), with Isabel Villanueva (viola), Marina Katarzhnova (viola), Egor Reutov (descant), Boris Stepanov (tenor) and Artyom Kamalitdinov (bass) as the soloists. St. Petersburg's Mikhailovski Theatre choir will accompany the players, and Andres Mustonen is the conductor.
Kristopher Rikken