Opening concert. non grata by Pärt, Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff, Tubin, De (2023/2023), Regente Mihhail Gerts, Vanemuise Concert House, Tartu, Estônia

Each symphony by Eduard Tubin has its own story to tell. The story behind the creation of Symphony No 8 which is the focus of this year’s opening concert is very special. Having fled from his home country in 1944, the composer earned condemnation from refugee communities after his visit to Estonia at the beginning of the 1960s. “I guess that the rage which was caused by numerous slanderous articles began to accumulate within me and was searching for a way out in the symphony’s finale, the tense repetitions of which are kind of like a hymn for myself. When a person gets older they tend to be more daring when it comes to showing their feelings, daring to laugh or to cry.” “Here I sit and I really don’t know, should I curse myself or fate. Just do not say that this is good, this is life… As you do not know, cannot feel my fatherlandlessness.” Both Eduard Tubin and Sergei Rachmaninoff, as well as Arvo Pärt after leaving Estonia in 1980, all experienced the sense of patriotism which was described by Karl Ristikivi in his use of a feeling of “fatherlandlessness”. All three composers have been in the public focus both as heroes and as undesirable persons, persona non grata, at different points in time. Joonas Hellermaa and Mihhail Gerts use the pre-concert conversation panel to describe the volatility of public opinion.