Estonia
Albums of the Year 2018: Mari Kalkun - IlmamõtsanThursday, 27 December 2018
Any of the individual elements making up Ilmamõtsan would be enough. Unified, they imbue Ilmamõtsan with beauty and an understated power. That questing Estonian singer-songwriter Mari Kalkun does not sing in English is no barrier to being affected.... Read more... |
Anderson & Roe, RLPO, Tali, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool review - measured fireSaturday, 06 October 2018
There must be something of a beauty parade going on in Liverpool now that Vasily Petrenko has called time on his tenure at Philharmonic Hall. After all, someone will need to step into his shoes from 2021 after he departs for the Royal... Read more... |
Prom 42, Buniatishvili, Estonian Festival Orchestra, Järvi review – bright lights from the NorthTuesday, 14 August 2018
Music-lovers who normally balk at the sight of national colours in a concert hall would surely have forgiven the little Estonian flags – in stripes of blue, black and white – that waved happily at the conclusion of this Prom. Under the baton of... Read more... |
theartsdesk at the Pärnu Music Festival 2018 - Pärt, Leonskaja and friends hard at playMonday, 13 August 2018
Unanticipated miracles happen every summer in the quiet paradise of Estonia's seaside capital. The first this year came as a total surprise. Having got off the afternoon coach from Riga last Monday and dumped bags at my villa base in Pärnu's garden... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Germany - Baltic mastery in Berlin and LeipzigWednesday, 28 February 2018
Punching well above their weights, population-wise, on the international music scene, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are celebrating, and being celebrated, in style over the year of their 100th birthdays. Berlin has just finished a 10-day "Festival... Read more... |
Capuçon, Philharmonia, Järvi, RFH review - Dvořák in blazing focusFriday, 02 February 2018
You can't have too much Dvořák in a single evening, at least not when the works in question operate at the highest level of volatility and melodic abundance like last night's overture, concerto and symphony. "Febrile centrists" might look like an... Read more... |
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Milton Court review - Arvo Pärt plusWednesday, 31 January 2018
Make Arvo Pärt the bulwark of any concert and you can surprise as well as delight the full house he’s likely to win you with the rest of your chosen programme. This was a beautifully planned showcase for the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir under... Read more... |
CD: Mari Kalkun - IlmamõtsanThursday, 04 January 2018
Ilmamõtsan’s centrepiece is “Linnaitk”, a disconcerting vocal-only composition playing distress-permeated chants off against a keening wordless melody line sounding as much an expression of grief as a call for support. The language is Estonian and “... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Estonia and Latvia - Pärnu Music Festival's great orchestra goes southThursday, 24 August 2017
For the first time ever Paavo Järvi has been showing other nations why the Estonian Festival Orchestra is among the world's best – travelling to other Nordic countries after their annual gathering in Estonia’s summer capital of Pärnu, with the big... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Tallinn: From Dusk to Black at Estonian Music DaysSaturday, 29 April 2017
Many other top Estonian musicians, performing among other works 30 premieres of music by their compatriots in just over a week, might have been equally deserving candidates for the lead image. But perhaps an even more appropriate image might have... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: BizarreSunday, 19 February 2017
On first pass, Beautica comes across as an exotic hybrid of 1991 school-of-Slowdive shoegazing and the fidgety music pre-Stereolab outfit McCarthy had perfected around 1989. But there’s something else; a lilting characteristic to the vocal melodies... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Estonia: Tallinn Music Week 2016Sunday, 10 April 2016
“If we want to keep this free and democratic Europe of ours free and democratic, we must enlist ourselves, our skills and our commitment to liberty and justice. The problems we face are too great to simply say let the politicians do it. I say this... Read more... |
