Estonian National Symphony Orchestra
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A Romantic from Kharkiv - Music of Sergei Bortkiewicz
$16.99CDMusic and Arts Programs of America
Oct 31, 2025MA-1313 -
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Strauss in St. Petersburg / Jarvi, Estonian National Symphony
This is a double-anniversary release, offering a rare collection of lively works to celebrate the ninetieth anniversary of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra as well as the eightieth birthday of its principal conductor, Neeme Järvi. Cheerful marches and dances here trace the career of Johann Strauss II as it manifested itself in his much acclaimed seasons in St Petersburg, at the ‘Russian summer’ concerts in the Vauxhall pavilion in Pavlovsk, where he appeared for eleven seasons (1856 – 65 and 1869), ten of them consecutively. It is an unmissable start to a year-long celebration for Neeme Jarvi that will include concerts, promotions, and subsequent album releases.
Scharwenka: Complete Piano Concertos / Markovich
Piano Concerto No. 1 was dedicated to Liszt and brought Scharwenka great renown. Originally conceived as a solo piano Fantasy, it was reworked as a piano concerto which in its content, despite a seemingly conventional three-movement structure, reflects its origin as a fantasia. The Second Piano Concerto seems to represent a step back stylistically, echoing the conservative style of Brahms. However, the influence of his native Poland can also be heard in allusions to Chopin as well as in Polish dance elements in the finale. The Third Concerto, in C sharp minor, opens with impressively powerful music reflective of this key signature, but in its highly romantic way it also introduces delicate and lyrical passages. Perhaps the finest of the concertos, the Fourth was met with astonishing enthusiasm at its premiere in 1908. It is an enormously varied work, a quality typified in the ‘roller-coaster’ first movement which moves rapidly from one expressive world to another.
R E V I E W S:
"This long-awaited Chandos set gathers the four piano concertos by Franz Xaver Scharwenka (1850-1924) together for the first time, in thrilling performances from Alexander Markovich and the Estonian National Symphony under Neeme Järvi… this new survey of Scharwenka’s piano concertos is a personal triumph for Markovich who consistently delivers titanic pianism that few can match these days." -- Michael Jameson, International Record Review [5/2014]
Sumera: Symphony No. 6 / Cello Concerto / Musica Profana
French Opera Overtures / Järvi, Estonian National Symphony
The nineteenth-century French opera overture was for many years looked down on by certain music critics (and musicians) - largely as the genre turned its back on the historical adherence to strict musical form (fugue, sonata form, etc.). Percy Scholes, in the 1955 Oxford Companion to Music, had the following to say: 'a cheap but not always ineffective type of opera overture is that of the pot-pourri or medley - little more than a string of tunes from the work to follow.' These overtures were incredibly popular in their time, and the revival of this repertoire is long overdue.
Daniel Auber composed more than fifty operas, some for the Paris Opera and some for the Opera Comique. His Grand Opera La Muette de Portici famously sparked the Belgian revolution in 1830, which led to the country's independence in 1839. Les Cloches de Corneville was by far the most successful of Planquette's twenty-four operas, receiving some 400 consecutive performances. Alexandre Lecocq's La Fille de Madame Angot was premiered in Brussels in 1872 and is set in post-revolutionary Paris. The Overture is followed here by numbers put together by Gordon Jacob, in his re-orchestration of material taken mainly from the opera, for Leonide Massine's ballet Mam'zelle Angot, which closely follows the action of the opera.
A Romantic from Kharkiv - Music of Sergei Bortkiewicz
French Music for Ballet / Jarvi, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra
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REVIEW:
The Estonian orchestra plays all the ballets very well, though, like many other Chandos recordings, the acoustics are cavernous. Conductor Jarvi adds some more recordings to his ever-expanding catalog of more than 500 selections. This is a worthwhile addition to your collection of ballet scores.
– American Record Guide
Magi: Orchestral Music / Volmer, Kutson, Estonian National
Includes work(s) by Ester Mägi. Ensemble: Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Arvo Volmer.
Eugen Suchon: Symfonietta Rustica; Baladicka Suita; Metamorfozy
Martinu: Suites from Spalicek & Rhapsody-Concerto / Jarvi
The Estonian strings sing their hearts out…the woodwind solos are very lovely, too. Viola-player Mikhail Zemtsov impresses with the sheer beauty of tone.
– BBC Music Magazine
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This album with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and its artistic director, Neeme Järvi, features two mature works by Bohuslav Martinu, recorded in the splendid acoustic of the Estonia Concert Hall in Tallinn.
One of the most wide-ranging composers of music for the stage, Martinu was also enthusiastic about the theatrical possibilities of including new media in his operas. Špalícek in many ways belongs to this experimental tendency. Although it was published and billed at its first performance as a ballet, it might best be described as an opera-ballet, as alongside the many dances there are extensive roles for chorus as well as tenor, soprano, and bass soloists. Martinu described the work on his manuscript as deriving from folk games, customs, and fairytales.
The lyrical Rhapsody-Concerto was written in 1952, at a time when Martinu was fighting homesickness and depression, worsened by the political situation in his native Czechoslovakia. The work is a marked move toward a more romantic sound world. The soloist here is Mikhail Zemtsov, principal violist of the Residentie Orchestra The Hague since 2001 and a prize winner at the first International Viola Competition (Vienna) and the Elisa Meyer String Competition (Hamburg).
The exploration by Järvi and the ENSO of hidden gems from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries has proved highly successful, their recent recording of works by Suchon awarded the Choc de Classica
Prokofiev: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 and Sonata for Solo Violin / Gluzman, Jarvi
Sergei Prokofiev was an adept composer of violin music. Nathan Milstein once described his first violin concerto as “indeed one of the best modern violin concertos… a brilliant piece, perhaps the finest of all Prokofiev’s works.” This work, along with Prokofiev’s second concerto is performed on this new release by Vadim Gluzman, who is critically acclaimed for his performances of the works of the virtuosos of the 19th and 20th centuries. Neeme Jarvi and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra join Gluzman for this recording. The ensemble has been applauded for their interpretations of Prokofiev’s music.
Eller: Violin Concerto, Fantasy, Symphony Legend & Symphony No. 2 / Elts, Skride, Estonian National Symphony
Heino Eller (1887-1970) can be considered as one of the founders of Estonian professional music culture. Eller’s legacy is twofold – in his prolific instrumental compositions he forged an elaborate style that successfully combined both modern and national elements, and as a prominent professor of composition during half a century he influenced generations of Estonian composers. This new recording by the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Olari Elts and featuring violinist Baiba Skride includes some of the highlights from the composer’s catalogue of orchestral works and is a fitting tribute to the centenary of Estonia’s independence. Heino Eller’s Violin Concerto in B minor was the first in its genre in Estonian music. First written in the 1930s the one-movement work was scheduled to be performed in Tallinn on June 1940. For reasons unknown, the work was withdrawn until March 1965 when Neeme Järvi conducted the premiere. Another work for violin and orchestra, Fantasy, was first written in 1916 and orchestrated in 1964. Fantasy is one of the earliest compositions that bears the hallmarks Eller´s individual style, and its sensitive lyricism and charming simplicity give the work an enduring appeal. The Symphonic Legend is Eller’s largest score prior to the First Symphony (1936). It was premiered on June 1923 in Tartu, and Eller revised the score for performance in 1938. A work with a wealth of musical material and masterly orchestration, Symphonic Legend was next performed only in 2014 by Olari Elts with the Estonian NSO, and the current recording is the first. Heino Eller wrote three Symphonies between the 1930s and 1960s. Unlike his other two Symphonies, the 2nd Symphony has only one movement. The severe and at times tragic nature of the music was incompatible with the demands of the official Soviet cultural ideology.
French Music for the Stage / Neeme Järvi, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra
For their latest album, Neeme Jaarvi and his Estonian National Symphony Orchestra present a delightful program of lesser-known stage music from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Overtures by Thomas, Auber, and Boieldieu were all composed for works staged at the Opera-Comique in Paris, and are wonderful examples of the period.
Weiner: Serenade in F & 5 Divertimentos / Jarvi, Estonian National Symphony
Within his extended discography, Neeme Järvi has explored the work of some magnificent Eastern European composers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, recently including Suchon and Scharwenka. He here reveals the delightful, witty Hungarian style of Leó Weiner, who found inspiration in the music of Bartók, his near contemporary, and taught such great figures of the Hungarian musical scene as Solti and Doráti, but also Kurtág. Throughout these recordings of the five Divertimentos and the Serenade, some of the works new to the catalogue, the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and their chief conductor encapsulate the freshness and fluidity of engaging, yet too rarely performed compositions.
Kerem: Symphony No. 3, 'For The Victims Of Communism' - Lame
Estonian violinist Kerem (b.Tallinn, 1981) is familiar as a performer in Britain as well as at home. He is also a prolific composer, with over 100 works to his credit, 3 symphonies among them. The three-movement 3rd Symphonny (2003) and the Lamento for viola and strings (2008–9) lie downstream from Shostakovich and Boris Tishchenko, and were inspired by the idea of the struggle of the individual voice against oppressive ideology.
Korvits: Hymns to the Nordic Lights / Joost, Estonian National Symphony
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REVIEWS:
Performed and recorded to impeccable high standards, this is the kind of release that can restore your faith in the power of contemporary music. Tõnu Kõrvits’ voice is very much one that invites rather than repels the listener, creating gorgeous sounds to go along with imaginatively conceived and expressively grounded material. There’s plenty of depth and poetic emotion to get your teeth into, so sharpen your senses and dive in.
– MusicWeb International
The Estonian National SO play throughout with the greatest of conviction and the glossiest tone, driven on by Risto Joost’s unique understanding of Kõrvits’s work, and the recording is everything one would expect from Ondine.
– Gramophone
Rubinstein: Piano Concertos Nos. 3 & 5 / Jarvi, Shelest, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra
It is difficult to overstate the breadth of contribution of Anton Rubinstein to the development of the Russian culture in the 19th century. His multifaceted genius can be divided into three areas- Rubinstein the composer, the pianist, and the educator. In this second release in the series of recordings of his works for piano and orchestra, we focus on Rubinstein’s role as a composer. Hailed by The New York Times as a pianist of “a fiery sensibility and warm touch,” Anna Shelest is an international award-winning pianist who has thrilled audiences throughout the world. Champion of esoteric repertoire, Anna is collaborating with legendary conductor Neeme Jarvi on this project, which will eventually record the complete works for piano and orchestra by Anton Rubinstein. The first album in the set was released in 2018 to critical acclaim.
Elgar: Violin Concerto - Stenhammar: Two Sentimental Romances / Ruubel, Jarvi, Estonian National Symphony
Works For Piano & Orchestra / Mihkel Poll, Mihhail Gerts, Estonian National Symphony
Recorded with Estonian National Symphony Orchestra (ERSO), under the baton of Mihhail Gerts, Mihkel Poll's new album features the Everest of piano repertoire - Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No.3 along with the Concertino by pianist's compatriot, Eduard Tubin. The release follows the album featuring Artur Lemba's Piano Concerto No.1 recorded equally with ERSO under Neeme Jarvi. This is Mihkel Poll's third album released by DUX Records. Born in 1986 in Estonia, Mihkel Poll studied at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre with Prof Ivari Ilja, recently receiving the PhD in Music, and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Prof Ronan O'Hora. He has also attended the masterclasses by prof Eliso Virsaladze at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole in Italy. Mihkel Poll has won several prizes in important international competitions including 1st prize at the Rina Sala Gallo International Piano Competition in Italy, 1st prize at the Tallinn International Piano Competition in Estonia and 1st prize at the Ferrol International Piano Competition in Spain.
Lepo Sumera: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 6
Furtwangler: Symphony No. 2 in E Minor
Neeme Järvi in Concert / Estonian National Symphony Orchestra
The legendary conductor Neeme Järvi celebrated his eighty-fifth birthday in the summer of 2022, in Tallinn, giving a series of concerts with his beloved Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. This album serves not just as a commemoration of those wonderful concerts, but also as a personal calling card for this remarkable musician. The concert overture Polonia, published in 1836, may well have been inspired by Wagner’s encounters with defeated Polish nationalists in Leipzig in 1832. Wagner wrote several concert overtures during this period – whilst plans for his revolutionary operatic output were developing – including Christoph Columbus and Rule Britannia!!
Max Reger composed the Serenade in G major in 1905 – 06; it demonstrates the style and talent of this too-little-heard composer. Brahms set Schicksalslied (Song of Destiny), a poem by Friedrich Hölderlin, in two movements with chorus, but then added a third, an orchestral postlude. Ave verum corpus, possibly Mozart’s best-known setting for chorus, rounds off the program.
REVIEWS:
The quality of choral singing of the Latvian State Choir is rightly celebrated, and this is a beautifully shaped performance [of the Schicksalslied], with vocal warmth and blend, and the orchestral postlude bringing a radiant conclusion.
-- BBC Music Magazine
This is a marvellous recording...Although Brahms’s Schicksalslied enjoys numerous recordings, Järvi’s is distinguished by the radiance and depth of the first and last sections as well as the vehemence of the central allegro.
-- Gramophone
As well as being a thoroughly attractive concert conducted with characteristic élan by Chandos star conductor Neeme Järvi, this program represents for collectors a very useful way of acquiring a variety of pieces, some unfamiliar, some less so… this is a very tempting disc.
-- CDChoice.co.uk
Rubinstein: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 / Shelest, Järvi, Estonian National Symphony
The breadth of Anton Rubinstein’s contribution to the development of Russian culture in the 19th century cannot be overstated. His multifaceted genius can be divided into three areas: Rubinstein the composer, the pianist, and the educator. This third release in the series of recordings of his works for piano and orchestra focuses on Rubinstein’s role as a pianist. Hailed by The New York Times as a pianist of a fiery sensibility and warm touch, Anna Shelest is an international award-winning pianist who has thrilled audiences throughout the world. Champion of esoteric repertoire, Anna’s collaboration with the legendary conductor Neeme Järvi on a project of recording the complete works for piano and orchestra by Anton Rubinstein has been praised by Gramophone Magazine for “…power and agility… effortless effect… nuanced and incisive all around.”
