In the midst of a severe winter storm when heavy snow, high winds, and ice storms caused havoc and a quarter of million households went without power, there appeared a bright star at the Beneroya Seattle Symphony Hall, Saturday night. The Seattle audience who dared travel to downtown Seattle were treated to an elegant performance of composer Peteris Vasks’ 1998 concerto, “Distant Light”, conducted by Olari Elts, a broadly admired and talented Estonian symphony orchestra conductor. The Seattle Times in their Monday, 23 January edition had this to say about Olari Elts: “Saturday’s performance was led by Estonian Olari Elts, 40, another of the new crop of talented up-and-coming conductors we are seeing more of these days.
Bracketed by Hayden and Mendelssohn, the centerpiece was Peteris Vasks’ Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra “Distant Light” written for Vasks’ famous compatriot Gidon Kremer. The violin soloist was Maria Larionoff, well known to Seattle audience. Both Hayden’s sunny Symphony No. 86 and Mendelssohn’s familiar Symphony No.4 the “Italian” received excellent interpretations from the small orchestra under Elts’ direction. Conducting mostly without baton, he drew a Baroque-infused performance of the first order, with crisp articulation, no vibrato and clean tone with lively tempos. He brought out Mendelssohn’s joyful start and melodic colors with clear leadership indicated by his expressive hands. This conductor we should bring back.” We should note that the orchestra had only one short rehearsal in advance of the performance.
Olari Elts is the newly appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic. As stated in the Seattle Symphony program, Elts has earned much praise on the international music scene for his distinctive programming rich with intervention. Alongside the rational repertoire, Elts has a strong commitment to contemporary music, including close association with fellow Estonians Arvo Pärt and Erkki-Swen Tüür. In addition to his new position, in Helsinki, Elts also remains Principal Guest Conductor of the Estonian National Symphony and Artistic Advisor for Orchestre de Bretagne.
Our brief visit with Olari Elts, backstage, after the performance was very pleasant and memorable. Elts was on his way to the airport to catch a late night flight to Stockholm where he was scheduled to perform on Monday or was it Tuesday. His parting words were that he would like to come back and work again with the Seattle Symphony. He praised the Northwest Scandinavian work ethic. Other quest conductors that have visited Seattle are Eri Klass and Neeme Järvi. Olari Elts has performed throughout the world from Australia to Scotland, to Paris, to Cincinnati to Tokyo and many other places, too numerous to mention here.
Linda-Reet and Mart Kask
