photo: Siim Vahur, www.tallinn.ee
After a two-year break, last week saw the Birgitta Festival, one of Tallinn’s signature music festivals, organised by the Tallinn Philharmonic. This year's spectacular music event, which took place in the ruins of Pirita Convent from 6 to 14 August, focused on the creation of the Finnish-Estonian musical bridge and attracted 4,244 music lovers to the unique concert venue.
This year’s Birgitta Festival included a new work, the opera "Lalli" by Veljo Tormis and Rasmus Puur, Elmo Nüganen's production of Mozart's opera "Don Giovanni" at Vanemuine Opera Theatre, Kristjan Järvi and the Baltic Sea Philharmonic's vision of Shakespeare's play "Tempest", and a concert "Uniko" by Kimmo Pohjonen and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra.
According to Kaarel Oja, Tallinn's Deputy Mayor for Culture, the highlight of this year's Birgitta Festival was the world premiere of the new work "Lalli". "New operas rarely come to the stage in our musical theatre, so when they do it is always an even. The full success of 'Lalli' made it even more significant, which fits perfectly into our being a UNESCO City of Music and confirms the role of the Birgitta Festival in this," said Oja. "On the whole, the festival succeeded because it not only returned after a few years, but did so fresh, re-establishing itself and meeting the expectations of a thoroughly contemporary musical theatre festival, but traditionally in the picturesque Pirita Convent with its unique atmosphere."
According to Lennart Sundja, Director of the Tallinn Philharmonic, Birgitta Festival was one of the pilot events for implementing the guidelines for organising environmentally friendly public events. “Waste was collected separately and reusable dishes were used, for which returning machines were tested," Sundja said. "Sustainability principles were also taken into account when creating and setting up stage decorations for use in new productions. The material used for the stage decorations in the opera "Lalli" will be recycled in Henrik Ibsen's play "Master Solness", soon to be staged at the Estonian Drama Theatre. The costumes and some of the set design will be kept for the time being, as negotiations are underway to stage the opera in Finland."
The first Birgitta Festival was held in Pirita in 2005 and until the pandemic break in 2020 and 2021, it was held continuously every year. The festival was initiated and headed by Eri Klas, who was its artistic director until his death in 2016. From 2017 to 2019, Risto Joost was the artistic director. This year's artistic director was Tõnu Kaljuste, principal conductor of the Tallinn Philharmonic, and the focus was on creating a musical bridge between Estonian-Finnish musicians and compositions.