Estonian National Symphony Orchestra ( et, Eesti Riiklik Sümfooniaorkester ''(ERSO)'') is the leading

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

and is based in the capital

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

. The orchestra traces it roots to 18 December 1926, the first concert broadcast by Tallinn Radio. The broadcast concert was performed by an ENSO predecessor, a trio headed by Hugo Schütz. The ensemble's ranks grew steadily, and by 1939 the Radio Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra included 39 performers. In addition to radio concerts, the public enjoyed live symphonies presented by the orchestra in conjunction with guest artists from the

Estonia Theatre Estonia Theatre is an historic building in Tallinn, Estonia, which houses the Estonian National Opera and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. The original Jugendstil building was designed by Finnish architects Armas Lindgren Armas Elie ...

. In 1939, one of Estonia's most outstanding musical figures of the day, Olav Roots, accepted the role of orchestra director. With Roots as director, the Orchestra continued to perform symphonies in Tallinn throughout the

WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

period. In the post-war years, the Orchestra was directed by Leo Tauts, Sergei Prohhorov and Roman Matsov, who was principal conductor from 1950 to 1963. By 1956 the Orchestra had 90 members. Despite the Soviet repertoire policy of the time, Maestro Roman Matsov managed to also bring oratorial works by such greats as

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...

Händel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

, Mozart and

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

to the public. For the first time in what was then the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, Matsov also managed to give audiences the listening pleasure of works by Igor Stravinsky,

Arnold Schönberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

Anton Webern Anton Friedrich Wilhelm von Webern (3 December 188315 September 1945), better known as Anton Webern (), was an Austrian composer and conductor whose music was among the most radical of its milieu in its sheer concision, even aphorism, and stead ...

Carl Orff Carl Orff (; 10 July 1895 – 29 March 1982) was a German composer and music educator, best known for his cantata '' Carmina Burana'' (1937). The concepts of his Schulwerk were influential for children's music education. Life Early life Carl ...

and others. It was not unusual for the Tallinn audience to be among the first to hear symphonies by

Dmitry Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throughout his life as a major compo ...

; Tallinn was usually the third venue, only preceded by premiere performances in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

and

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. Since the season 2020/21, its Chief Conductor and artistic director is Olari Elts. Neeme Järvi, the longest-serving chief conductor of the ERSO, continues to cooperate with the orchestra as Honorary Artictic Director for Life and the Artistic Adviser of the orchestra is Paavo Järvi . The orchestra has dazzled the world with numerous tours and participated in reputable international music festivals. They have played in prestigious venues such as the

Konzerthaus Berlin The Konzerthaus Berlin is a concert hall in Berlin, the home of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. Situated on the Gendarmenmarkt square in the central Mitte district of the city, it was originally built as a theater. It initially operated from ...

, Musikverein in Vienna, Rudolfinum in Prague, Brucknerhaus in Linz, the Avery Fisher Hall (current

David Geffen Hall David Geffen Hall is a concert hall in New York City's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The 2,200-seat auditorium opened in 1962, and is the home of the New York Philharmonic. The facility, designe ...

) in New York, the Grand Hall of

Saint Petersburg Philharmonia Saint Petersburg Philharmonia (), officially the Saint Petersburg Academic Philharmonia Named After Dmitri Shostakovich, D. D. Shostakovich (), is a music society located in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and is the name of the building where it is hou ...

and the Concert Hall of the

Mariinsky Theatre The Mariinsky Theatre ( rus, Мариинский театр, Mariinskiy teatr, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music th ...

, the

Kölner Philharmonie The Kölner Philharmonie is a symphonic concert hall located in Cologne, Germany. It is part of the building assemble of the Museum Ludwig and was opened in 1986. The Kölner Philharmonie is located close to the Cologne Cathedral and the Cologn ...

, Festspielhaus in Bregenz, Helsinki Music Centre, the Berwaldhallen in Stockholm, and many more – including, of course, their home venue, the Estonia Concert Hall in Tallinn. In 2019, ENSO and Neeme Järvi opened the highly acclaimed

Festival de Radio France et Montpellier The Festival Radio France Occitanie Montpellier, formerly the Festival de Radio France et de Montpellier, is a summer festival of opera and music held in Montpellier, France created in 1985. The music festival concentrates on classical music and jaz ...

. In addition to their praiseworthy live performances, the high quality of the musical recordings of the orchestra has been recognised by several renowned music magazines and the recordings have won several prizes, including a Grammy Award (conductor Paavo Järvi). The orchestra has enjoyed fruitful cooperation with highly acclaimed record companies such as Chandos, BIS, and Onyx, and in the past also with Alba Records, Harmonia Mundi, and Melodiya. In 2018, Neeme Järvi received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the magazine '' Gramophone'' and ENSO had the honour of performing at the Gramophone Classical Music Awards Gala. In addition to local radio and television channels, ENSO's concerts have been broadcast by Mezzo and

medici.tv Medici.tv (stylized as medici.tv), created in 2008, is a video streaming platform for classical music, jazz, and ballet. Live events With 150+ live events each year, medici.tv live streams performances by various artists, ensembles and orche ...

. They have also reached many radio listeners in Europe via the EBU. As for conductors and soloists, ENSO is fortunate to perform with the very best from all around the world, including front-rank Estonian musicians. Commanding a repertoire that ranges from the Baroque period to the present time, the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra has had the honour to premiere symphonic pieces by almost every Estonian composer, including Arvo Pärt,

Erkki-Sven Tüür Erkki-Sven Tüür (born 16 October 1959) is an Estonian composer. Life and career Tüür () was born in Kärdla on the Estonian island of Hiiumaa. He studied flute and percussion at the Tallinn Music School from 1976 to 1980 and composition w ...

Tõnu Kõrvits Tõnu Kõrvits (born 9 April 1969 in Tallinn) is an Estonian composer. In 1994 he graduated from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre with specialty in composition. Since 2001 he has taught composition and instrumentation at the Estonian Ac ...

, and Eduard Tubin. In 2018, when the Republic of Estonia celebrated its 100th birthday, ENSO was deeply involved in the anniversary programme both in Estonia and internationally. In addition to tours in the U.S., Hong Kong, Armenia, and Georgia, Estonia's first oratorio – ''Jonah’s Mission'' by Rudolf Tobias – was performed at the Konzerthaus Berlin, conducted by Neeme Järvi. Performances were also given at the Sibelius Festival in Lahti and the Baltic Symphony Festival in Riga. Furthermore, ENSO's musicians gave 100 concerts in one week all over Estonia.

Principal conductors

Olav Roots Olav Roots (26 February 1910 – 30 January 1974) was an Estonian conductor, pianist and composer. Roots was born in Uderna. He studied at the Music School of Tartu from 1923 to 1928, studying piano with Artur Lemba and composition under H ...

(1939–44) *Paul Karp (1944–50) * Roman Matsov (1950–63) *

Neeme Järvi Neeme Järvi (; born 7 June 1937) is an Estonian American conductor. Early life Järvi was born in Tallinn. He initially studied music there, and later in Leningrad at the Leningrad Conservatory under Yevgeny Mravinsky, and Nikolai Rabinovich, ...

(1963–79) *Peeter Lilje (1980–90) *Leo Krämer (1991–93) *

Arvo Volmer Arvo Volmer (born November 4, 1962 in Tallinn) is an Estonian conductor. Volmer was principal conductor of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra from 1993 to 2001. From 2004 to 2013 he was Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Adelaide Sym ...

(1993-2001) *Nikolai Alekseev (2001-2010) *

(2010-2020) *

Olari Elts Olari Elts (born April 27, 1971 in Tallinn) is an Estonian conductor. He was the principal conductor of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra from 2001 to 2006. He is the founder and director of the contemporary music ensemble NYYD Ensemble. ...

(2020-...)

References

History from the Orchestra's official website

External links

*
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* {{Authority control Musical groups established in 1926 Estonian orchestras EMI Classics and Virgin Classics artists 1926 establishments in Estonia National orchestras Estonian classical music groups