In 2018 the Republic of Estonia is celebrating the centenary of its foundation, and Sibelius himself had a personal connection to musical life in the Baltic states owing to the visits he made to conduct his own music in Estonia and Latvia in the early years of the twentieth century. In honour of Estonia’s jubilee year, the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra has been invited to the festival together with its artistic director, the legendary Estonian Sibelius conductor Neeme Järvi.

Conductor Neeme Järvi is very happy about the forthcoming visit. ‘This visit celebrates both Finland’s and Estonia’s anniversary years’, he says, and remarks that the visit has a profound personal significance for him: ‘I have the honour of participating in the celebrations of these important events both in my homeland, Estonia, and in our close neighbour Finland, so it’s possible to commemorate this historic time together.’ Kristjan Hallik, general manager of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, says that the visit to the Sibelius Festival in Lahti is also a great honour for the orchestra: ‘We hope our performance will offer a new perspective on Sibelius’s music, as maestro Järvi’s music-making is unique’.

Neeme Järvi and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra
Neeme Järvi (b. 1937) is one of the world’s most highly regarded conductors of today; he has made almost 500 recordings and has conducted many of the world’s élite orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. From 1982 until 2004 he was principal conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, with which he made many Sibelius recordings for BIS Records, among them all seven symphonies.

Järvi’s collaboration with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra (est. 1926) began in 1956, and in 1963 (when it was known as the Estonian Radio Symphony Orchestra) he became its principal conductor, a position he retained until 1979. Järvi improved the orchestra’s artistic standards significantly and also conducted its first international tours, to Romania and Bulgaria in 1972 and to Kuwait in 1976. Since then the orchestra has toured all over Europe and in the USA, and has appeared at numerous festivals including the Baltic Festival in Stockholm and Europamusicale Festival in Munich.

Tickets via Ticketmaster’s outlets and website in Finland and from the Sibelius Hall box office.