Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and Male Choir – Leif Segerstam, conductor. March 25, 2018.

Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall.  Rear Stalls (Seat V30, HK$320.)

Program

Nocturno from the cycle Nox Vitae by Grigorjeva (1962-).

Kullervo, Op 7 by Sibelius (1865-1957).

Artists

Monika-Evelin Liiv, mezzo-soprano; Rauno Elp, baritone; Mikk Uleoja, chief conductor, Male Choir.

As part of the 47^th Hong Kong Arts Festival, the orchestra and choir performed in two programs.  The first one consisted of more traditional pieces such as The Sailors’ Chorus from Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman and The Soldiers’ Chorus from Gounod’s Faust.  (There were modern pieces by Arvo Part, for instance.)  I had a dinner commitment, and the performance was nearly sold out anyway.

Tonight’s program consisted of two works I had never heard before.  Galina Grigorjeva was born in Ukraine and Nocturno is the first part of her Nox Vitae (Night of the Life), a five-part choir cycle based on poems by the Russian poet Innokenty Annensky.  To quote the program notes: In Nocturno, man stands alone in the middle of the darkness of night, and the irrefutable course of time.  Typical are these phrases found in the English translation provided: dessert and naked, dive into the gloom; it’s a predator, a mighty bird, its name is Time.

The short piece was sung a cappella, and was conducted by Uleoja.

If Nocturno was depressing, Kullervo was even more so.  Sibelius based his composition based on a tale from the Finnish epic Kalevala, that of the tragic hero Kullervo, who has an unwittingly incestuous encounter with his long-lost sister that eventually leads to both of them committing suicide.  The first, second and fourth movements are instrumental and evoke general moods.  The third and fifth employ a male chorus that narrates the story.  In the long third movement a baritone sings the lines of Kullervo, and a mezzo-soprano those of the maiden he comes across, including the sister.  The first movement “Introduction (Allegro moderato)” sets the general tone; the second movement “Kullervo’s Youth (Grave)” describes how he is sold as an infant by his uncle and tormented by his owners; the third movement “Kullervo and His Sister (Allegro vivace)” has Kullervo’s fateful encounter with his sister who kills herself after finding out their blood relationship;  in “Kullervo Goes to Battle (Alla Marcia)” Kullervo kills his uncle’s clan; the last movement “Kullervo’s Death (Andante)” Kullervo talks to his own sword before impaling himself on it.

The Program Notes has a good description of how the music progresses, and the oft-repeated line of “Kullervo, Kalervo’s offspring” adds to the ominous program of the story.

I didn’t know what to expect of the orchestra or the choir, as Estonia is a country of only 1.3 million people.  And I have to say “very good.”  Its artistic director is Neeme Jarvi, whom we saw at a New York Philharmonic concert a few years ago.  Today’s conductor Segerstam was born in 1944, thus quite young by conductor standards.  Yet he had some program with maneuvering around the stage.  The orchestra was large, and the soloists had to shout to be heard, at times not quite successful.

Conductor Leif Segestam acknowledging the audience.  Standing to his left are the two soloists.

If one had a stereotype of what Nordic music sounded like, this was it: gloomy and gloomier.  While I generally enjoyed the concert, I just wished my introduction to the orchestra and the choir was with a more uplifting program.  There were quite a few empty seats in the auditorium.

The program didn’t have a break, so I made it to my dinner appointment just in time.