Otsing

155th season

Bonycrone and Captain Drum

...ngs, she was also a witch… Aino Pervik’s sweet and witty story about Bonycrone and Captain Drum is a tale about the vastness of nature and the constraints of city life, about arguing and making up, losing and finding oneself, and about the weird effect of witchcraft, vanity and love. The production features music by Uno Naissoo, Modest Mussorgsky, Jerry Goldsmith, Carlos D’Alessio and Mark Mothersbaugh. Suitable for children from the age of 5. No...

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Julius Caesar

A Baroque opera by Georg Friedrich Händel The powerful ruler and military commander Julius Caesar is on a war campaign to Egypt when he meets the 19-year-old Cleopatra and falls in love. In her desire to rule Egypt, Cleopatra decides to seduce the enemy who tries to conquer her land, and claim the throne with the help of Caesar. The plan seems perfect but it has a fatal flaw. She did not plan on falling in love. In the turmoil of war, intrigues a...

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kriis.ID

...mporary dance production about young people’s search for identity We study and test limits. We preach morals and destroy them. We sketch images of ourselves and observe their collapse in light of current crises. This is an interactive production where one cannot hide behind the fourth wall. The search for identity involves the classically trained Vanemuine ballet dancers as well as the theatre as a space itself, which can take on an entirely new m...

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Swan Lake (Luikede järv)

...pirations and questions. For me, Tchaikovsky’s music was the only real reason for producing Swan Lake at the Vanemuine Theatre. If we set aside the aesthetics, beauty and pathos of classical ballet and open our minds to the music, we see much more than 32 fouettés or “The Dance of the Little Swans”. Petr Zuska is a director who will delve deep into the story and dramaturgy of the music, drawing inspiration from the extraordinary colours and energy...

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Tristan and Isolde (Tristan ja Isolde)

...till recognizes him and tries to kill the enemy. However, Isolde quickly abandons this plan as she falls in love with him. As gratitude for his recovery, Tristan pledges eternal faithfulness to her. However, Tristan feels unworthy of Isolde and goes to King Marke to ask for her hand in marriage. Thus, Isolde would become the queen of the United Kingdom of Cornwall and Ireland. Isolde sees this as a betrayal and together with Tristan they decide to...

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Metamorphoses

...t worldviews of three talented choreographers. It is like visiting an exhibition where we can see pop art on one floor, modern art on the second and classical art on the third. It is up to the viewers to decide which one they prefer. The young choreographers looking for answers through their unique body language are Jack Traylen, winner of the young choreographers’ competition of the Vanemuine Theatre in 2018; Matthew James Jordan, inspired by ste...

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Linda di Chamounix

...mmunity, falling into sin, a young woman’s right to make decisions, deception and reconciliation – this witty, romantic and sentimental opera is set in the middle of the 18th century in Chamounix, a small village situated in a valley of the Alps, and in the turbulent Paris. The financially struggling peasant Antonio and his wife Maddalena count on Marquis de Boisfleury to speak on their behalf to keep the land owner from stripping them of all thei...

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Tilda and the Dust Angel (Tilda ja tolmuingel)

...rector Tilda’s father is dead and her mother doesn’t have time or inclination for fun and jolly kinds of activities. And so, a magical creature comes to life from the dust in the attic and flies in Tilda’s window. Sometimes when we worry, we forget important things – the things that really should be remembered at all cost. Dust and little dust angels have always existed and remember everything! Premiere October 24th 2020 in the Small Building of t...

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Sister Act (Nunnad hoos)

Soulful gospel music, fast-paced action and a moving story about friendship! The musical Sister Act is presented in cooperation with MUSIC THEATRE INTERNATIONAL (MTI Europe), which holds the rights to the work. www.MTIShows.com Sister Act is a top-notch musical comedy! Brilliant tunes by Alan Menken, who has eight Oscars to his name, fill the evenings and audience with energy – going to church was never this fun! Yes, you could say Sister Act is...

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The Lover (Armuke)

...rama production without words, where all the interaction would take place non-verbally. Then I came across a quote by Harold Pinter and to me this became a trigger for the entire play: “We have heard many times that tired, grimy phrase: ‘Failure of communication’… and this phrase has been fixed to my work quite consistently. I believe the contrary. I think we communicate only too well, in our silence, in what is unsaid, and that what takes place i...

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Six Characters in Search of an Author (Kuus tegelast autorit otsimas)

...vely characterises the play, in which thoughts on the relationship between reality and fantasy and between the true and the imaginary produce a timeless story about a family trying to stay together. The Father and The Mother are characters with the best of intentions and have created the most important thing in life: a family. But how can it be held together? How can children be kept from the evils of the world? How can they be warned against repe...

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Something Real (Midagi tõelist)

...en to examine larger developments the world where reality sometimes seem unreal. The first Vanemuine production of a play by prolific and award-winning Estonian playwright Martin Algus looks at how human desires are born, dependency on one’s urges and the consequences they lead to. “And the worst wasn’t what happened, but what should have actually happened – it didn’t exist anymore …” Not recommended for ages under 14 Premiere on 9 November 2018 a...

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AK-47

...tory about the self-explorations of a young man in a military world. It is commonly thought that men and weapons are inseparable, as are men and cars, men and cell phones, men and… Little boys like war games and mostly there is always this one fine man who helps to craft the first toy gun. Then the boy becomes a man, he starts a military service and if fate insists, he needs to go to a war. By that time, he is a full-grown man and has to raise som...

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Sweeney Todd

...autiful daughter – until the day he was convicted of a crime he didn’t commit and was exiled for life. 15 years later he returns to London under the alias of Sweeney Todd, a masterful barber whose one true desire is to avenge himself on Judge Turpin and Turpin’s loyal lackey Beadle Bamford, the cause of all his suffering…. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a dark and irrepressibly iconoclastic musical thriller from 1979, scored and...

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Faust

...g of life and eternal youth, and the intricacies of a world shot with morality and ethics, sin and Hell, cravings and greed. Director Hendrik Toompere: Often people confuse Faust and Mephistopheles. Often Faust and Dante are mixed up. Often people confuse heaven and hell. And always, people confuse the present and the past. The muddle is particularly great as to the here and now and the hereafter. Our new production of Faust aims to shed some clar...

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Journeys. Songs of Terra Mariana.

...es and give people a better understanding of them. It will also provide additional information about Estonian history and the selected decade. When the Republic of Estonia was established 100 years ago, a completely different set of possibilities and requirements opened up for the Estonian language. Estonian statehood and Estonian-language scholarship triggered a flowering of the language, and the range of uses for Estonian expanded from the home...

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Free Summer Concert of the Vanemuine Symphony Orchestra 2017

...Traditional summer concert in Kassitoome Valley! Free entrance! On July 30 at 20 o’clock...

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Midnight in Paris (Kesköö Pariisis)

...prototypes – are torn apart in his language of movement. Hence a new concept and the atmosphere necessary for our production are being born. If the people and creatures on Dali’s paintings could speak in the language of dance, they would be very Shannon-like. Actually, Midnight in Paris is a simple love story. One could also say that it is a modern romantic ballet that does not lack a lover’s triangle and the accompanying temptations and intrigues...

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Eugene Onegin (Jevgeni Onegin)

...egin at the Vanemuine deserves to be recorded for the Mezzo channel – just so a valuable production can be seen by a wider audience!” – Tiiu Levald in the newspaper Sirp The Estonian Theatre Union’s 2014 award for a music production for the production team, orchestra and troupe of the Vanemuine for the enjoyable production of the opera Eugene Onegin by Pyotr Tchaikovsky Premiere April 6, 2013 at Vanemuine Small Building In Russian with Eston...

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Love Virtually (Hea põhjatuule vastu)

...ainst the North Wind” reminds us that the real passion grows from imagination and the people that we desire are not just sexy bodies but sexy personalities – bodies with thoughts, feelings, lust and everything else human. Words filled with real feelings are always sexier than the bikini pictures of the oh-so-famous football star’s supermodel girlfriend.Through the mouth of the main character the writer says, “Write to me, Emmi, writing is like kis...

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The Master and Margarita

...feeling in the audience. This explains the emergence of the new stage version. It is a symbiosis of dance and drama, mysticism and love, black magic, plurality of boundaries and the need to keep moving. Enormous delight is to be found in minor details – one cannot help but stand in awe of the playwright. Those in search of aesthetic pleasures are titillated by the most graceful of dance steps as if incidentally added to the performance. There are...

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The tickets for the Vanemuine Theatre’s new season are on sale

01.06.2022

...the theatre’s box office. The 153rd season will be opened by a new production on the opera stage. On August 19, 2022, the libretto by Maarja Kangro and music by Tõnis Kaumann in the form of the opera „The Mall“ (Kaubamaja) will see its debut at the Vanemuine Harbour Theatre. Four figures meet at the door of a mystical and fabulous department store, puzzling over the world behind the magical sliding doors, what wonderful treasures the neon signs an...

News

The Vanemuine Theatre awarded Creative Prizes

16.12.2021

...rizes for creative, technical, and administrative employees during the traditional Jõuluglögg event organized in the yard of the Vanemuine Small Building for all Vanemuine people. At the same event, also four work jubilees were recognized. The Vanemuine Theatre General Manager Kristiina Alliksaar said that the people working in the theatre know very well that the performance taking place that evening is what is most important for which everyone gi...

News

Vanemuine’s new season brings classics as well as new works to the stage

20.08.2021

...Theater invites all music lovers to the Vanemuine Symphony Orchestra’s Season-Opening Concert that takes place on 3 September at Vanemuine Concert Hall, on 4 September at Jõhvi Concert Hall, and on 5 September at Estonia Concert Hall. The conductor of the concerts is Risto Joost accompanied by soloists Annely Peebo and Katrin Targo. The first new production of the season is „Linda di Chamounix“ which premieres at the Vanemuine Small Building on 11...

News

Leading cultural centres bring hope and show respect amidst the pandemic

09.04.2020

...ur of hope, to show respect to everyone struggling from the current situation and to remind us of more hopeful times ahead. Leading cultural and concert centres from three countries across the Nordic hemisphere have joined forces in a campaign to bring hope to people, show respect and support to everyone facing the crisis. These cultural centres will be lit in green every night from Thursday, April 9th onwards for the time being. The campaign wish...

News

Tallink becomes a major supporter of Estonian culture

20.03.2019

...al Opera, Aivar Mäe hopes that Tallink Grupp and the theatres will have a long-term cooperation. „We are extremely glad that Tallink as the most highly esteemed organisation in its own field is willing to support the flagships of Estonian culture. It will give us the opportunity to offer our audience even better and higher-quality theatre experiences.“ “Vanemuine has very high hopes for the cooperation with Tallink. It is also our great desire to...

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Jevgeni Grib

...ifar’s Suite en blanc, and others (all at the Estonian National Opera). Additionally, he has danced leading roles in Boris Eifman’s ballets Onegin, Requiem, and Red Giselle. Grib’s work as a choreographer includes several short ballets, among them Keep a Light in the Window (Sumera/Lemba/Pushkin 2018), Picasso (Bechet/Richter/Gershwin/Rachmaninoff/Debussy 2019), and Tango (Piazzolla/Gardel/Zimmer/Powell/Bach 2019), all premiered at the Estonian Na...

Inimene

Risto Joost

...Risto Joost is an award winning conductor, who has gained widespread recognition for his work both in the opera pit and on the concert stage. His repertoire ranges from Baroque to the most challenging works of contemporary composers. Joost has studied orchestral and choral conducting as well as singing at the Estonian Academy of Music and received further training at the University for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. In 2008, Risto Joost grad...

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Karmen Puis

...Lino Puglisi and participated in master classes by Hartmut Höll, Eva Märtson-Wilson, Barbara Pearson and Rita Dams. During her studies at the Estonian Academy of Music Puis worked as a choir singer and soloist in the Estonian Radio Choir. She has sung solos in many large-scale vocal works and performed in numerous chamber music concerts with various casts: Mozart’s Requiem and Coronation Mass, Beethoven’s Mass C-major, Schubert’s Mass E-major, Vi...

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Mare Tommingas

...ments – 1989 young choreographer’s annual award of the Estonian Theatre Union for the productions of Dawn and White Night – 1992 a young ballet artist’s award of the Estonian Theatre Union for the production of African Sanctus. Barcelona – 1995 music theatre annual award of the Estonian Theatre Union for the musical Man of La Mancha – 2004 the creative scholarship of the Foundation Tartu Kultuurkapital for organizing the I.D.A. festival – 2006 the...

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Elena Poznjak-Kõlar

...nal experience Has been working at the Vanemuine Theatre since 1955, is a long-time ballet soloist and director’s assistant, has choreographed operettas Has also been a rehearsal instructor since 1970 In 1988 was a ballet teacher at the Olomouc Oldřich Stibor Theatre in Czechoslovakia In 1990 was the choreographer for the Kaunas State Musical Theatre’s (Lithuania) production of P. Abraham’s Ball at the Savoy Has performed in Latvia, Lithuania, Rus...

Inimene

Janek Savolainen

...Jordan/Grib 2021), “Gatsby / La Dolce Vita” (Stubbs/Madia 2015), “Thriller – Tribute to Michael Jackson” (Bradley 2013), “Calendar Girls” (Sepp 2012), “Abba” (Stepanov 2011) Recognition Estonian Theatre Union’s Annual Award in 2020 for the dance performance for children “Klaabu” – Janek Savolainen and Katrin Pärn...

Inimene

Review. „Firebird” and „Shahrazad”. A Brazilian plus Vanemuine equals a fresh blast of dance

01.04.2022

...e over with bubbling energy and uninterrupted power of movement with a nail-biting pace that creates sincere feelings of pleasure. Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Shahrazad” which is inspired by „One Thousand and One Nights”, is a harem folk tale, to put it short, in which, in the absence of the hosts, it becomes a major variety of bacchanal. In traditional productions, it is a storytelling ballet wrapped in 19th-century imagery, captured in elaborate pageantr...

Raimo Poom, Eesti Päevaleht

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Pawns in Queen Mab’s game

25.01.2019

...allop off at a crazy speed. Throughout the performance, we can sense a premonition of something ominous about to happen and Thanatos accompanies life at every moment and is ever-present. Above all, this feeling is supported by the empathetic Friar Laurence whose best intentions founder due to the will of Queen Mab. The stage design and costumes do not stress any one era, but rather leave the viewer free to imagine the action unfolding in the prese...

Anu Ruusmaa

Artikkel

The Vanemuine’s black and white escapades

15.10.2018

The Vanemuine ballet troupe has started its 80th season on a strong and self-assured note: besides a Czech take on Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, an unusual photo album dedicated to the anniversary year was published. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet has seen so many different kinds of interpretations for the screen, theatre, opera and ballet stages that it seems impossible that there could be a completely new version. But the Czech choreographer an...

Heili Einasto, Postimees

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Mamma Mia Estonia

08.02.2017

...ry’s first version of the classic ABBA jukebox musical “Mamma Mia” with a non-replica version licensed by Musical Theatres International (MTI) staged in Vanemuine’s Big House auditorium, directed by Ain Mäeots with lighting designed by Meelis Lusmägi. Meelis has taken full advantage of Vanemuine’s house rig which includes a substantial amount of Robe moving lights, weaving 20 x MMX Spots, 10 x 600E Spots, 30 x LEDWash 1200s and 12 x LEDWash 600s i...

Louise Stickland, ROBE.CZ

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Don Juan exalts passion

03.02.2017

...he stage, a violin player beside him. Diavolo is like an elegant and stress-free wild animal who stalks his quarry until the right moment comes to pounce. The costumes fashioned in an S&M style, a horn-like penis protector over the genitals, with striking curved horns as a final touch – as such he is merciless and dogged. Don Juan is like a chess piece who is played, along with other Satanic spawn, into the underworld. Dramaturgically, Madia has s...

KRISTIINA GARANCIS

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Don Juan in a trap of reflections

06.01.2017

...solely pre-recorded music was used for this production demonstrates the position of ballet in a musical theatre that employs its own orchestra. Why couldn’t operas and musicals, too – accompanied by a recording – be performed and brought into focus by an orchestra that does not completely justify its role? In this manner, Vanemuine’s Don Juan reflects, on many levels, the trap that contemporary dance theatre is stuck in: on one hand, the unbridgea...

Heili Einasto, Postimees

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Without much ado, yet another major opera has hit the stage at the Vanemuine Theatre

11.11.2016

...hasn’t come about ever since back when Kaarel Ird was having “communist-to-communist” discussions about the topic in Tallinn. The Vanemuine folks are bravely continuing to do ambitious work in their small house. And they have once again hit the nail on the head when it comes to justifying their existence. Lucia di Lammermoor, which had its premiere on 2 April in Tartu, has posed challenges for vocalists and directors for close to 200 years. The o...

Monika Helme

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Lucia and madness – who chose whom?

13.05.2016

...Building of Vanemuine Theatre in 1999 and was directed by Taisto Noor, the latest interpretation almost completely lacks the scale and aristocratic glamour of grand opera.. Instead of a nobles’ castle, the relatively empty stage is decorated by one low riser, details resembling larger-than-life toys from a castle mock-up and high semi-circular papered wall with a large window. The Scottish hills and valleys are represented by dark, empty surfaces...

Alvar Loog, opera critic

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Estonia’s spiritual capital takes on Lucia di Lammermoor

13.05.2016

...o profit from Lucia’s doubt and hesitation. Upon first meeting with the baritone, who shined most recently at Vanemuine as Escamillo, he left the impression of a character with a more stolid stage presence. However, the Latvian was in his element as Lucia’s violent brother – giving off a diabolical machismo though no stranger to humanity either. Vanemuine chorus artist German Gholami made his debut as Lucia’s betrothed Arturo. For now, his vocal a...

Anne Prommik, Klassikaraadio editor

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Review: the two sides of the same coin

03.02.2015

...cally convincing.And such a palpable living force is probably not that common on the Estonian dance stage. Erotic tension was especially well conveyed in the step dance number the power of which seemed to reach every corner of the grand hall of the Vanemuine. Both Gatsby as well as La Dolce Vita are solid and wholesome ballet productions in which the dancer and his/her person have been highlighted deservedly.As the troupe consists of dancers of ve...

Mihkel Truman, kultuur.err.ee

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Music in the shadow of darkness

05.12.2014

...a sign of a certain capability, also that of trust.And it is obviously a long-term project with an enormous amount of time, effort, energy, as well as money, having been contributed to it.Indeed, cooperation, co-play is the greatest charm of this performance. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera – the most successful musical of all time – that has, for 28 years already, been performed in London every night, is most demanding both vocall...

Muusika, HELE-MAI POOBUS

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