From 15 to 18 February, the festival “Zeitinsel Arvo Pärt”, dedicated to Arvo Pärt’s oeuvre, will take place at the Dortmund Concert Hall. During the festival, visitors can explore an exhibition curated by the Arvo Pärt Centre and participate in a discussion on themes around Pärt and his work.
“Zeitinsel Arvo Pärt” will feature several acclaimed performers of Pärt’s music, including violinists Gidon Kremer and Hugo Ticciati, as well as cellist Anja Lechner, the West German Radio (WDR) Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kristiina Poska, and Tõnu Kaljuste conducting the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Estonia’s premier ensembles.
An exhibition created specially for the festival will introduce the background to the works in the festival programme. “The exhibition aims to narrate the story of Arvo Pärt’s creative development and his journey to the tintinnabuli style, using the composer’s own thoughts and written notes. Quotations from Pärt’s diaries, manuscript excerpts and photos shed light on the essence of the works presented and the creative process behind them,” explains one of the exhibition’s curators, Kai Kutman from the Arvo Pärt Centre.
Offering further insight into Arvo Pärt’s music will be a discussion panel on 17 February featuring conductor Tõnu Kaljuste, violinist Gidon Kremer and Michael Pärt, the chairman of the Arvo Pärt Centre’s council. The conversation will be moderated by Raphael von Hoensbroech.
The festival “Zeitinsel Arvo Pärt” will be opened on 15 February by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Estonia’s premier ensembles. Conducted by Tõnu Kaljuste, they will perform a programme of Arvo Pärt’s works, including Spiegel im Spiegel, Collage über B-A-C-H, Solfeggio, Für Alina, Veni creator and Te Deum. On 17 February, the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir will present the world premiere of Estonian composer Evelin Seppar’s a cappella mixed choir piece Iris, based on Jaan Kaplinski’s poetry and commissioned especially for this festival by the Dortmund Concert Hall.
The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir has established a long-standing collaboration with the Dortmund Concert Hall, having been invited to perform there with various repertoires and compositions over the years. “This performance at the Dortmund Concert Hall is the fifth for the chamber choir. We are honoured to be part of the Arvo Pärt festival, whose programme has been meticulously developed over a long period,” says Esper Linnamägi, the Executive Director of the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir.
The four-day festival’s diverse programme includes works from various of Pärt’s creative periods, juxtaposed with the works of other composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, György Ligeti, Gabriel Fauré, John Tavener, Dmitri Shostakovich and Sergei Rachmaninoff.