Estonian National Opera symphony concert

Conductor: Arvo Volmer
Estonian National Opera Orchestra and Chorus

PROGRAMME

Symphonic poem “Finlandia”, Op. 26
Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47
Suite “Pelléas and Mélisande”, Op. 46
The Seventh Symphony in C major, Op. 105

This spring’s Estonian National Opera symphony concert under the baton of Arvo Volmer brings to a close the cycle of Jean Sibelius’ seven symphonies and their amazing soundscape.

The concert is dedicated to Jean Sibelius’ works and it opens with the Symphonic poem “Finlandia”, Op. 26 (1899), a piece that conjures a sense of Finnish national pride like no other. On February 15, 1899, the Russian Tsar Nicholas II issued the “February Manifesto”, aimed to restrict the autonomy of the Grand Duchy of Finland similarly to Estonia. A little after the signing of the manifesto, Sibelius finished his “Finlandia” that sums up the feelings of Finnish people most precisely in that politically explosive spring. “Finlandia” was as significant to the Finnish people as Verdi’s “Va, pensiero” to Italians at the premiere of his “Nabucco”.

The second composition of the concert is the enigmatic Violin Concerto that is the only instrumental concert by the composer. Sibelius was trained as a violinist, although he never became a virtuoso performer. He has written an enigmatic and soulful concerto that highlights the violin’s full range of technical and expressive e possibilities in his sweeping, powerful style from its magical opening theme to the exhilarating finale.

Intermission

Suite “Pelléas and Mélisande” Op. 46

Maurice Maeterlinck’s play “Pelléas et Mélisande”, which premièred in Paris in 1893, is widely regarded as one of the major works of Symbolist theatre. It inhabits a medieval world of dream and fantasy, and its prose dialogue is rich in allusions. The prose dialogue is inseparable from the work’s musicality, as the French music critic Ernest Newman pointed out when he remarked that “Maeterlinck’s verbal cloudiness needed to be set to music before it could convey its full meaning”. The musicality of Maeterlinck’s play inspired Gabriel Fauré to compose his incidental music (1898), Claude Debussy his famous opera (1902), Arnold Schönberg his symphonic poem (1903) and Jean Sibelius his 9-part suite (1905). Sibelius composed his incidental music for the play in 1905 in response to a commission from the Swedish Theatre in Helsinki. Sibelius later slightly rearranged the music into a nine-movement suite, which became one of his most popular concert works.

The Seventh Symphony in C major, Op. 105 is a one movement symphony, in contrast to the standard symphonic formula of four movements. It was written within the time period of 1914–1924, while Sibelius was writing many other prominent symphonic works. It has been described as “completely original in form, subtle and wholly organic in growth and Sibelius’ most remarkable compositional achievement.” Sibelius titled it first as a “Fantasia sinfonica No. 1” but later decided to list it as his seventh and final symphony, despite its one movement formula. “I wanted to let this symphony flow according to its own will”, as he stated in his diary. One of the most prominent Sibelius’ scholars, Olin Downes has said of the symphony, “If clouds that move across the sky uniting and dissipating and constantly changing could be turned into music, we would hear them in this symphony. And above all floats a deep and calming current like in nature on a beautiful summer day.”