 Eri Klas Foto: Kalju Suur |
On June 7, Estonian conductor Eri Klas who is also an active figure in Estonian musical life, will celebrate his 70th birthday. On this occasion, an open air concert entitled When your soul is young…will take place at Town Hall Square at 7 pm. Performers include Eri Klas’ friends and colleagues from Estonia, Finland, Russia, Sweden, such as singers Angelika Klas-Fagerlund, Cynthia Makris, Elvira Hohlova, Marion Melnik, Raimo Sirki, Gabriel Suovanen, Aleksandr Antonenko, Angelika Mikk, Helen Lokuta, Mart Madiste, Rauno Elp, Andres Köster and Mati Palm, actors from Tallinn City Theatre, conductors Jüri Alperten, Vello Pähn, Sergei Lõssenko, Jüri Leiten and Antti Sarpila, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Estonian National Opera Chorus and Estonian Dream Big Band. Eri Klas himself will also conduct. |
The program consists of music by Giuseppe Verdi, Gaetano Donizetti, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Charles Gounod, Richard Strauss, Mikhail Glinka, Leonard Bernstein, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Estonian composers Uno Naissoo, Olav Ehala and Valter Ojakäär.
The concert will be hosted by conductor Anu Tali and actor Veikko Täär.
Another Eri Klas’ jubilee performance will take place on August 13 at Birgitta Festival where Tauno Aints’ and Leelo Tungal’s oratorio A Time to Love will be performed. Eri Klas is the Artistic Director of Birgitta Festival. Read more: http://www.birgitta.ee
Eri Klas studied at Tallinn State Conservatory with Gustav Ernesaks and at Leningrad Conservatory with Nikolay Rabinovich. In 1959–1965, he played percussion in Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and in 1960–1963, sang at the Estonian Radio Male Quartet with Arved Haug, Uno Loop and Kalju Terasmaa. His career as a conductor began in the 1960s at Estonian National Opera and Moscow Bolshoi Theatre. In 1975–1994, Klas worked as the principal conductor and the musical director of Estonian National Opera. Since 1994, he has been the Laureate Conductor. In 1985, Eri Klas worked as the chief conductor of Swedish Royal Opera and from 1990 onwards as the principal guest conductor of Finnish National Opera. He has also served as the principal conductor of Aarhus Symphony Orchestra in Denmark and the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra.
In 1994–1997, Klas taught conducting at Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and since 1998 he has been a visiting professor of Estonian Academy of Music. He is the honorary doctorate of the latter since 1994.
As a guest conductor, Eri Klas has conducted more than 100 orchestras in more than 40 countries including the U.S. (Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, the symphony orchestras of Dallas, Buffalo, Atlanta), Canada, Australia (the symphony orchestras of Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne), South America, Japan and many others. The best known European orchestras that he has conducted are the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Berliner, Hamburger and Münchener Philharmoniker, Stockholm Royal Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra etc.
On his concerts abroad he has consistently introduced Estonian music – pieces by Eduard Tubin, Arvo Pärt, Heino Eller, Eino Tamberg, Veljo Tormis, Lepo Sumera, Erkki-Sven Tüür. In Estonia, he has conducted premiéres for numerous pieces of Estonian classical and new music and recorded them for Estonian Radio.