Vanemuine orchestra opens season with Mozart and Mahler

According to ERR, the Vanemuine Symphony Orchestra will open its season with works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Gustav Mahler, performing on September 11 at the Vanemuine Concert Hall and on September 12 at Viimsi Artium.

The programme will begin with a staged concert performance of Mozart’s first opera, “Apollo et Hyacinthus.” The production will be directed by Janek Savolainen.

The opera’s characters will be played by Pirjo Jonas, Ursula Roomere, Rael Rent, Martin Karu and Juhan Tralla. Kristjan Häggblom will narrate the story in Estonian in the role of a chronicler.

“Mozart wrote the opera at the age of 11, but despite his youth, it is a versatile and energetic composition,” said Risto Joost, Vanemuine’s music director and conductor.

The second half of the concert will feature Mahler’s First Symphony, sometimes known as “Titan.” The work marks the beginning of the composer’s symphonic output and combines lyrical beauty, melodies inspired by folk music and dramatic contrasts.