Conducted by Kristiina Poska, the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and the Flanders Symphony Orchestra perform Arvo Pärt and Gabriel Fauré across Belgium as well as in Paris, France, and the Dutch city of Arnhem.
The concerts will also feature a Czech soprano, Hana Blažíková, and a British baritone, Roderick Williams.
The musicians will perform “Silouans Song” and “Adam’s Lament” by the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt and “Requiem, Op. 48” by the French composer Gabriel Urbain Fauré (1845 – 1924).
The concerts will take place on 12 February in Ghent, 13 February in Paris, 15 February in Brussels, 16 February in Hasselt, 17 February in Roeselare and 18 February in Arnhem.
The Flanders Symphony Orchestra, established in 1960, is one of Belgium’s leading orchestras. Kristiina Poska, originally from Türi, Estonia, was appointed the orchestra’s chief conductor in 2019, becoming the first female conductor to be named to the post.
The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir has twice won the Grammy award for the recordings of Arvo Pärt music – for “Arvo Pärt. Da Pacem” (Harmonia Mundi), recorded with Paul Hillier in 2007, and for “Arvo Pärt. Adam’s Lament” (ECM), with Tõnu Kaljuste in 2014.
“Kristiina Poska’s fellow countrymen of the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir introduce music of Estonian composers like Arvo Pärt everywhere in the world. In ‘Adam’s Lament’, Pärt explores the pain caused by the loss of paradise with bitter undertones and thundering chords. After so much remorse, Fauré’s ‘Requiem’ almost sounds like a sigh of relief. Fauré’s soft sounds do not evoke an end but a new beginning: a journey to eternal life,” the Flanders Symphony Orchestra said in a statement.
