Rudolf Tobias - Joonas (Tõnu Kaljuste)

Information

Composer: Rudolf Tobias

• Joonas (Jonah Oratorio)

Mirjam Mesak, soprano

Kai Rüütel-Pajula, mezzo-soprano

Mati Turi, tenor

Taavi Tampuu, baritone

Raiko Raalik, bass

Chorus Mysticus

Estonian National Opera Boys' Choir

Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

Tallinn Chamber Orchestra

Tõnu Kaljuste, conductor

Date: 2025

Label: Ondine

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This album presents the world premiere recording of Rudolf Tobias’s Joonas (Jonah Oratorio) in its original score and Estonian text—the first major work in Estonia’s art music history. Tobias, regarded as the father of Estonian music, was the first Estonian composer to graduate in composition from the St Petersburg Conservatoire. His monumental oratorio, a cornerstone of Estonia’s musical heritage, is performed here by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, and conductor Tõnu Kaljuste, bringing new life to this landmark work in a historically and artistically authentic interpretation.

Rudolf Tobias (1873–1918) was Estonia’s first professional composer and organist. Born in Selja on the island of Hiiumaa, he studied composition at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory under Louis Homilius and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Tobias later taught and performed in Tartu, where he organized concerts, conducted, played piano and organ, and wrote as a music journalist, joining the cultural movement Noor Eesti. After short stays in Paris, Munich, Dresden, and Prague, he settled in Berlin in 1910, working as an organist, critic, and professor at the Royal Academy of Music. A German citizen from 1914, he also served briefly as a World War I army interpreter.

Tõnu Kaljuste, born in Tallinn in 1953, is a renowned Estonian choral conductor and son of the prominent conductor Heino Kaljuste. He studied choral conducting at the Tallinn and Leningrad Conservatories and began his professional career in 1981 when his Ellerhein Chamber Choir won the Béla Bartók International Choral Competition, becoming the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir. Kaljuste is celebrated for close collaborations with living composers, notably Arvo Pärt, with whom he has recorded landmark works including Te Deum, Litany, Kanon Pokajanen, In Principio, and the Grammy-winning Adam’s Lament. His ECM discography also features Erki-Sven Tüür, Alfred Schnittke, Brett Dean, Paul Giger, Heino Eller, and Gesualdo.