Estonian composer Arvo Pärt’s Symphony No. 4 will be premiered in Helsinki’s Finlandiatalo concert hall on Thursday, 16 April. This is the European premier of the composer’s newest work. The Helsinki City Orchestra will be conducted by Turkish conductor Cem Mansur.

Nearly 40 years separates Arvo Pärt’s last symphony, Symphony No. 3, from this new work. The subtitle for Symphony No. 4, which is nearly 40 minutes long, is “Los Angeles”—the world premier of the symphony even took place in Los Angeles in the USA in January of this year, where the local orchestra was conducted by its long-time conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen.

The composer has dedicated his great composition to Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who is held in prison in Russia. “With my composition, I would like to reach out, extending a hand to this prisoner and through him to all those imprisoned without rights in Russia. I wish him peace of soul notwithstanding the circumstances, and I hope that my carrier pigeon one day reaches faraway Siberia,” Arvo Pärt wrote in the dedication of his Symphony No. 4.

The concert in Finlandiatalo will begin with a performance of Pärt’s symphony at 19.00. During the second half of the concert, Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with solos by Aleksander Toradze as well as variations on Elgar’s “Enigma” will be performed. The concert will be broadcast live on the radio through co-operation by Estonian Classical Radio and Finnish Yleisradio. During the intermission of the concert, Yleisradio and Estonian Classical Radio will be playing recently recorded interviews with Arvo Pärt. He will discuss the creation of his Symphony No. 4 and his perception of music in general.

President of the Estonian Republic Toomas Hendrik Ilves and his wife will attend the premier of Arvo Pärt’s Symphony No. 4 at the Finlandiatalo concert hall.


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