On the 11th of September 2005, Arvo Pärt, the most outstanding presenter of Contemporary Estonian Music and the ambassador of Estonian culture celebrated his 70th birthday.
Estonia celebrates the birthday of his beloved composer as follows:
September 11.–28, the Arvo Pärt Festival will take place in Rakvere (artistic director Paul Hillier, organised by Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Rakvere City Council in collaboration with Eesti Kontsert and Paide City Council).
Pärt’s music will be performed mostly by Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir (conductors Paul Hillier, Tõnu Kaljuste) and ensemble Theatre of Voices. Concerts at
Rakvere Church, Rakvere Orthodox Church, Paide Church of Holy Cross, Tallinn Methodist Church, Vanemuine Concert Hall, Pärnu St. Elizabeth’s Church and Estonia Concert Hall will present “Passio”, “Kanon Pokajanen”, “Stabat Mater”, “Miserere” and other choral music by Arvo Pärt.
See also: www.partfestival.com
The concert, organised by the Assiciation of Estonian Professional Musician, will be held on 29th of October at Tartu St. John’s Church and 30th of October at Tallinn Dome Church. The Estonian premiere of Pärt’s “L’abbé Agathon” (2004) version for soprano and eight cellos (soloist Alfia Kamalova) and other pieces will be performed by Peep Lassmann (piano), ensemble of Gregorian chant Vox Clamantis, Aare-Paul Lattik (organ), Tobias String Quartet, Aare Tammesalu (cello), Taniel Kirikal (countertenor) and many others.
The Classical Music Channel of Estonian Radio broadcast the documental series “Arvo Pärt – 70” where Arvo Pärt’s life and compositions will be introduced as interviews with more than fifty persons, amongst whom there are Eri Klas, Veljo Tormis, Tõnu Kaljuste, Paavo Järvi, Eleonora Pärt, Andres Mustonen, Paul Hillier, Philip Glass, Gidon Kremer amo. The same radio channel broadcasts the concerts of the Pärt festival in Rakvere and birthday concerts in Stockholm and London.
See also: www.er.ee/klassika
In the period of September 8.–17, Estonian Television will show the films “24 Preludes on one Fugue” (by Dorian Supin, Estonia 2002), “Arvo Pärt in November 1978” (Eesti Telefilm 1978) and “Bamboo Dream” (UK, 2002). Programme includes also TV recordings of different Pärt concerts. On September 11th, ETV broadcasted the jubilee concert from Rakvere Church (“Passio”, performed by Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, conducted by Paul Hillier).
See also: www.etv.ee
The first book in Estonian about Arvo Pärt has been published! Translated form Italian and published by Estonian Encyclopaedic Publishing, the book “Arvo Pärt in the Mirror” was presented on the 7th of September 2005. The book about the creative life of Arvo Pärt includes the essay “Pärt and waiting hours” by outstanding musicologist and critic (also the artistic director of Torino Settembre Musica Festival) Enzo Restagno and articles by Spanish gamba virtuoso Jordi Savall, German musicologist Helda de la Motte-Haber, Austrian musicologist Leopold Brauneiss, Norwegian music critic Olav Egil Aune and an essay by Estonian musicologist Saale Kareda “Back to the basic element”.
The book presentation was spiced up with the presentation by Studio F-Seitse of the DVD version of the film “24 Preludes on one Fugue” (by Dorian Supin, 2002)
Selection of Pärt performances in the fall of 2005:
August 31st, Tokyo Opera City
September 2nd, Kawaguchi Circle Hall
September 3rd, Kamakura Kencho-Ji Temple
“Orient & Occident”, “Fratres”
Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, conductor Eri Klas
September 9th, Viinistu Art Museum
September 11th, Stockholm Gustav Vasa Church
“Te Deum”, “Berliner Messe”
Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Swedish Radio Choir,
conductor Tõnu Kaljuste
September 27th, Tallinn
“Tabula Rasa”
Gidon Kremer, Kremerata Baltica
October 20th–21st, Budapest Autumn Festival
“Berliner Messe”, “Orient & Occident”, “Silouans Song”,
“Te Deum”
Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber
Choir, conductor Tõnu Kaljuste
October 25th, Lyublyana, Slovenia
“Arbos”, “Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten”,
“Como cierva sedienta”, “Summa”
Symphony Orchestra of Slovenian Radio and TV,
conductor Karmin Silec
Label ECM produced a bright new CD “Lamentate” with Pärt’s music which in addition to the title music (performed by Stuttgart Radio Orchestra, conductor Andrei Boreyko, piano soloist Alexei Lubimov) presents an a cappella piece “Da Pacem Domine” (performed by Hilliard Ensemble).
Arvo Pärt was the central composer at the annual festival Estonian Music Days 2005 and Pärnu David Oistrakh Festival (July 2005).