FULL GUSTAV ERNESAKS Anniversary Gala Tallinn 2008 Heli Veskus, Helen Lokuta, Jassi Zahharov, Mart Madiste
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: Gustav Ernesaks Anniversary Gala
- Composer: Ernesaks Gustav
- Libretto: various
- Venue & Opera Company: Estonia Concert Hall, Tallinn, Estonia
- Recorded: December 14, 2008
- Type: Concert Live
- Singers: Heli Veskus, Helen Lokuta, Jassi Zahharov, Mart Madiste, Rene Soom, Mati Palm, Urmas Põldma, Priit Volmer
- Conductor: Eri Klas
- Orchestra: Estonian National Opera Symphony Orchestra
- Chorus: Estonian National Opera Symphony Choir
- Stage Director:
- Costume Designer:
Information about the Recording
- Published by: Eesti TV
- Date Published: 2008
- Format: Broadcast
- Quality Video: 3 Audio:3
- Subtitles: nosubs
- Video Recording from: arhiiv.err.ee FULL VIDEO
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
Opera exerpts from Pühajärv, Shore of Storms, Hand in Hand and Fire Ordeal
Gustav Ernesaks (12 December 1908 – 24 January 1993) was an Estonian composer and a choir conductor.Gustav Ernesaks was born on 12 December 1908 in Perila, Estonia. He was educated at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre where he was a pupil of Juhan Aavik and Artur Kapp. After completing his education, he founded the first professional choir in the history of Estonia in 1944, the State Academic Men’s Choir (now the Estonian National Male Choir).
Ernesaks played an integral role in the Singing Revolution and was one of the father figures of the Estonian Song Festival tradition. One of his songs, a setting of Lydia Koidula’s poem Mu isamaa on minu arm, became an unofficial national anthem during the years of Estonian SSR. His performance of the song at the XVII Estonian Song Festival was one of the inspirations for Dmitri Shostakovich’s 1970 a capella choral cycle, Loyalty. He dedicated the score to Ernesaks, who also premiered it in Tallinn. He also composed the Estonian SSR anthem used between 1945 and 1990.
In 1935, Ernesaks married Stella Merjam. They had three sons: Ott Ernesaks, Jüri Ernesaks and Peep Ernesaks. His wife died in 1973. Ernesaks died in Tallinn on 24 January 1993 aged 84 A statue of him was erected in 2004 on the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds.
Quoted from Wikipedia