Friday 13 March, 19:00
(Doors open at 18:15)
Oslo Cathedral
Adult: 550 NOK
Senior/student: 450 NOK
Child: 100 NOK
Duration: approx. 1 hour and 10 minutes
OPENING CONCERT
ARVO PÄRT 90
ESTONIAN PHILHARMONIC CHAMBER CHOIR
TÕNU KALJUSTE, conductor
Pärt with one of the world’s leading choirs
Welcome to an atmospheric and beautiful opening concert with one of the world’s leading choirs, the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir. Under the direction of the legendary conductor and founder of the choir, Tõnu Kaljuste, they will perform selected works by the 90-year-old Arvo Pärt – one of our time’s most played contemporary composers. Pärt is an important and prominent composer of sacred music, and the program showcases the range of Pärt’s vocal music. Works such as Missa syllabica, Magnificat and Sieben Magnificat-Antiphonen are written in his characteristic tintinnabuli technique – a form of minimalism where a simple, stepwise melody combines with an arpeggio of the tonic triad. However, since the beginning o the 21st century, Pärt has moved away from this style. We can hear examples of this in his works The Deer’s Cry and Dopo la vittoria. The concert concludes with an excerpt from Pärt’s most expansive choral work, Kanon Pokajanen. The text is a hymn to the light and to the metamorphosis that occurs between night and day, between prophecy and fulfilment, and between death and the immortal. Kanon Pokajanen is dedicated to the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and conductor Tõnu Kaljuste.
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Arvo Pärt (b. 1935)
Missa syllabica
Sieben Magnificat-Antiphonen
Magnificat
The Deer’s Cry
Dopo la vittoria
From “Kanon Pokajanen”
Kontakion
Ikos
Prayer After the Canon -
The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir is a leading chamber choir in international contexts, and is one of Estonia’s most well-known ensembles. The choir’s repertoire ranges from medieval Gregorian songs to contemporary modes of expression, with a special focus on Estonian composers such as Arvo Pärt, Erkki-Sven Tüür, and Toivo Tulev. In 2018, the choir won the Gramophone Award for best choral recording of the year, with music by Pärt and Schnittke. After conductor and artistic director Tõnu Kaljuste started the choir in 1981, they have been under the direction of prominent names such as Paul Hillier, Daniel Reuss, and Kaspars Putniņš. In 2021, Tõnu Kaljuste returned as chief conductor and artistic director. In connection with Pärt’s 90th anniversary in 2025, EPCC has been on a world tour singing in the biggest concert venues.
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Tõnu Kaljuste has made a name for himself internationally, with a varied repertoire, spanning everything from operas and classical symphonic works to modern music. He has collaborated with renowned composers within Nordic and Eastern European modernism, among them Alfred Schnittke, György Kurtág, Krzysztof Penderecki, Giya Kancheli, and Einojuhani Rautavaara. Kaljuste is an expert on, and a dedicated advocate of, the music of the Estonian composers Arvo Pärt, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Tõnu Kõrvits, Veljo Tormis, and Heino Eller.
Photo: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir: Kaupo Kikkas, Tõnu Kaljuste: Krõõt Tarkmeel
