Estonia Opera chief says workplace distrust claims are incomprehensible

Arvo Volmer, artistic director and chief conductor of the Estonian National Opera, said reports that staff at the theatre do not trust one another were incomprehensible to him. He made the comments in an interview with ERR’s Delta programme.

The professional theatre marked its 120th anniversary on September 16. Asked about its artistic direction over the next five years, Volmer said he preferred to look ahead rather than dwell on the past, and suggested the theatre’s future could be considered over a 50-year horizon.

Volmer described the opera’s role as educational, helping to set cultural priorities. The Estonian National Opera Act defines its work: the theatre must stage dance and sung theatre and present works by Estonian composers. He said it also had room to perform internationally recognised classics, comparing opera’s focus on composers such as Verdi and Wagner with drama theatres’ attention to Shakespeare and Chekhov.

Volmer said he was interested in blurring genre boundaries by bringing elements of visual theatre, more movement and continuing transformation into classical opera productions. He wants the opera to be responsive to social change, while retaining stability as a state-funded organisation and recognising the risks and costs of experimentation.

On whether the opera should focus mainly on Estonian performers or follow international developments, Volmer said he hoped Estonia would become a country with around two million to two-and-a-half million Estonian-speaking residents. He said individuals should decide for themselves whether they identify as ethnically Estonian, and described people living and working in Estonia as the basis for the theatre’s audience and workforce.

Volmer said the opera stages sung theatre in Estonian as much as possible, but does not translate every work into Estonian and perform it in translation.