The Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Olari Elts, will give concerts in Paris, Munich and Nuremberg from 1 to 4 December.
Estonia’s leading orchestra will give concerts at Meistersingerhalle in Nuremberg, Germany, on 1 December, La Seine Musicale in Paris, France, on 2 December and Isarphilharmonie in Munich, Germany, on 4 December.
The orchestra, conducted by Olari Elts, will perform works by Arvo Pärt, Rudolf Tobias, Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Antonín Dvořák. The orchestra is joined on stage by Daniel Lozakovich on violin; the Swedish violinist is described by Classicagenda, a French magazine, as “prince of the violin”.
Estonia’s pre-eminent orchestra
The Estonian National Symphony Orchestra traces its roots all the way back to 1926. The orchestra grew in the interwar period and continued to perform symphonies in Tallinn during the Second World War. After the war, and despite the Soviet-imposed repertoire, its principal conductor, Roman Matsov, managed to bring works by Bach, Händel, Mozart and Beethoven to the public.
Of the Russian composers, it was not unusual for the Tallinn audience to be among the first to hear symphonies by Dmitry Shostakovich; Tallinn was usually the third venue, only preceded by premiere performances in Moscow and Leningrad.
Neeme Järvi was the orchestra’s principal conductor from 1963 to 1979 and again from 2010 to 2020. Since Estonia regained its independence in 1991, the orchestra has played across the world, including prestigious venues like the Konzerthaus Berlin, Musikverein in Vienna, the Avery Fisher Hall (current David Geffen Hall) in New York and the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg.
In 2004, the orchestra, conducted by Paavo Järvi, won a Grammy award for the best choral performance, together with the Estonian National Male Choir and the Ellerhein Girls’ Choir, for the performance of Sibelius’ cantatas.
Since 2020, the orchestra’s artistic director has been conductor Olari Elts.
