Thu 11.9.2025 at 18:00, Lappeenranta-sali
Fri 12.9.2025 at 18:00, Concert hall Mikaeli
Erkki Lasonpalo, conductor
Saxophone Quartet Aava (Joonatan Rautiola, Samu Metsänen, Kalle Oittinen, Eero Saunamäki)
Arvo Pärt: Mein Weg
Veli Kujala: Concerto for saxophone quartet and orchestra “Transformations”
Aleksandr Skrjabin: Rêverie
Jean Sibelius: Symphony 7
The first Saimaa Sinfonietta concert of the autumn celebrates both a world premiere and a significant anniversary.
Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, a towering figure in contemporary music, turns an impressive 90 years old this September. His work Mein Weg portrays the ups and downs of life in Pärt’s distinctive and emotionally radiant style.
The concert also features something entirely new and unheard: Veli Kujala’s concerto for saxophone quartet and orchestra. Originally composed for wind orchestra, the piece has now been adapted for symphony orchestra, adding new colors and nuances. The soloist lineup is far from ordinary, as four saxophonists take the stage with instruments of varying sizes.
Conductor Erkki Lasonpalo crowns the festive program with two grand orchestral works. Aleksandr Scriabin’s Rêverie, the first orchestral piece by this unique and often polarizing composer, dates back to 1898. It serves as a fitting prelude to Jean Sibelius’s final completed symphony, his Seventh. This one-movement symphony, premiered in 1924, has fascinated audiences and music scholars alike ever since. Majesty, melancholy, beauty – this mature composer’s masterful work offers all of it.
MEET THE ARTISTS 12.9. at 17:30 in Mikaeli
32 € / 29 € / 13 € (Mikaeli concert)