IV: FINAL CONCERT OF THE SEASON • "Romantika" kontserdisari

Thomas Adès
America: A Prophecy, Op. 19

Sergei Rachmaninoff
Choral symphony The Bells, Op. 35

Arvo Pärt
Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten

Lepo Sumera
Symphony No. 2

State Choir LATVIJA, ERSO, conductor OLARI ELTS

Similarly to the first ERSO concert of the season, which used the sound of bells as its recurring theme, the final concert of the season will take place in the same spirit, concluding the ‘Romance’ series. Conducted by Olari Elts, the concert begins with the apocalyptic work by British composer Thomas Adès – America: A Prophecy for a soprano and an orchestra. The concert continues on a prophetic note with the choral symphony The Bells by Sergei Rachmaninoff, performed with the State Choir LATVIJA. The symphony uses poetry by Edgar Allen Poe and the melancholy nature of the piece has been seen as a prediction of the dark future of Russia.

The theme of the sound of bells continues in Arvo Pärt’s Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten. The composition has been described as a musical meditation on death. Estonian music is also represented by Lepo Sumera’s Symphony No. 2, dedicated to the former chief conductor of ERSO, Peeter Lilje.