Jean Sibelius. Symphony No. 7
Pyotr
Tchaikovsky. Rococo Variations
Arvo Part. Pro
et Contra, cello concerto
Igor Stravinsky. Le
sacre du printemps, music for the ballet
Jan Vogler (violoncello)
Conductor:
Kristjan
Jarvi
This very young orchestra emerged, quite literally, on the waves of the
Baltic Sea in 2008. It was founded by the Usedom Music Festival, held annually
on the Baltic Sea island of Usedom in eastern Germany, and the company Nord
Stream AG, which is constructing a gas pipe through the Baltic Sea.
The orchestra is headed by Kristjan Jдrvi, the son of the renowned Estonian
Neeme Jдrvi and brother of the equally renowned Paavo. The youngest member of
the Jдrvi family, he studied conducting at the Manhattan School of Music in New
York and in 1993 he formed The Absolute Ensemble, a chamber
orchestra with which he has made numerous recordings; some of these have been
nominated for the prestigious Grammy awards. Currently, however, the
conductor’s main concern is the Baltic Youth Philharmonic Orchestra.
The ensemble has a simple structure – it is formed of seventy students
from conservatoires in ten Baltic Sea nations who are chosen through
competitions. The orchestra performs at the Usedom Festival in autumn, and
there are also frequent concerts in various towns and cities throughout the
Baltic region.
The special marine environment of the ensemble is based on the presumption
that the orchestra performs, first and foremost, works by composers from
the ten Baltic States. And this is an expansion rather than a limitation of the
musical horizons. By bringing together that which, at first glance, cannot be
combined, say, for example, Tchaikovsky and Zimmermann or Stravinsky and
Sibelius in the territory of the “Baltic roots” of these musicians, extremely
interesting parallels can emerge.
The orchestra has already earned a glowing reputation in Europe, but this
summer in St Petersburg the musicians face a more serious task, as they
will be joined by fellow students from Venezuela who will be performing on
behalf of a flourishing region of South America. The Baltic will have to
offer a counterargument of its own.
Yekaterina Belyaeva