ENSO concludes its 91st season with the festival Practical Spirituality curated by Kristjan Järvi

ENSO concludes its 91^st season with the festival Practical Spirituality curated by Kristjan Järvi. The festival includes pieces from Wagner, Pärt, and Adams, as well as electronic music.

 ENSO concludes its concert season on a grand note – in addition to classical pieces, the end-of-season festival Practical Spirituality, held between 18 and 24 May, treats the audience to a musical performance combining choral and electronic music with video installation, a chamber music concert interweaving Icelandic and Estonian pieces, a cinema performance, meditations, and pop-up concerts.

The festival’s Artistic Director and conductor Kristjan Järvi explains that the festival raises a number of important questions: ‘Who are we? What does it mean to exist? What is the purpose of human actions? Are we using our time for doing something real? What is reality? The festival is titled Practical Spirituality. But what is spirituality? Is it a convenience? Is it being part of something? Is it possible to practice spirituality?’

Practical Spirituality fuses together contemporary and classical sounds. For the first time, the Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson and the German composer, producer, arranger, and electronic musician Sven Helbig take the stage in Estonia.

The festival kicks off on 18 May with the symphonic concert CENTURY ROLLS. The title piece, John Adams’s piano concert, is performed by the Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson. The concert also includes pieces by Max Richter and Richard Strauss.

On 19 May, at 6.00 p.m., the audience is welcomed at Sõprus Cinema instead of a concert hall for the screening of the film Embrace of the Serpent (directed by Ciro Guerra). This visually hypnotic story of man, nature, and the destructive force of colonialism takes the audience straight to the tropical heart of the Amazon.

On 20 May, the festival continues in the mood of chamber music with the concert FROM ICE TO EST. Víkingur Ólafsson is accompanied on stage by ENSO’s concertmaster Triin Ruubel, principal cello Theodor Sink, and principal clarinet Signe Sõmer. Pieces by Arvo Pärt and Icelandic composers are performed. Before the concert, at 6.00 p.m., the festival guests are welcomed to a musical meditation that teaches them to listen to music in a more consciously present state so that any concert becomes a more intense experience and a greater source of pleasure. The meditation is led by ENSO’s violinist and Kundalini yoga teacher Miina Laanesaar.

On 21 May, at 6.00 p.m., a pop-up concert will take place at Telliskivi Reval Café. ENSO’s string quartet and Sven Helbig perform Helbig’s short Pocket Symphonies, which will be played by a symphonic orchestra at the Estonia Concert Hall a few days later. The pop-up concert in the café is hosted and moderated by the conductor Kristjan Järvi.

On 22 May, the chamber choir Voces Musicales performs at the Tallinn Creative Hub (Kultuurikatel). The concert performance I EAT THE SUN AND DRINK THE RAIN for choir and electronic instruments is conducted by Kristjan Järvi. This piece by Sven Helbig contemplates the relationship between man and nature, climaxing with the end of the Age of the Machine.

The culmination of the festival Practical Spirituality is the symphony concert RING on 24 May. The programme of the concert includes pieces by the best-known contemporary German composer Sven Helbig, as well as Richard Wagner’s symphonic adventure The Ring of the Nibelungs. Helbig’s Pocket Symphonies are made up of a dozen pieces, each about three minutes long, where the composer has tried to capture the essence and depth of a symphonic piece in a compact lyrical form. The symphony orchestra is supported by electronic instruments.

Festival programme: https://www.erso.ee/hooajalopu-festival-practical-spirituality/. Festival on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/175284013124180/

Additional information:
Anastassia Dratšova
Sales and Communications Manager, ENSO
anastassia.dratsova@erso.ee
+372 5591 6274