Presented by TaHe nüüdismuusikaorganisatsioon COMPASSION is Trio Lucaria’s latest concert program, leading audiences on a journey from early music into the present day, all woven around the theme of compassion. The performance takes place in one of Tallinn’s most beautiful historic venues – the House of the Blackheads – providing a unique atmosphere for this musical exploration.
The framework of the concert is shaped by two figures – the Dalai Lama and composer Isang Yun – united by spirituality and life in exile. Drawing from their wisdom and inspiration, Trio Lucaria explores the essence of compassion through music.
The evening begins with Philipp Friedrich Böddecker’s virtuosic work for bassoon, inspired by a 15th-century peasant girl’s desperate plea to her parents not to be sent to a convent – a common practice in families unable to feed all their children. With this piece, Trio Lucaria also introduces the theorbo, whose distinctive timbre and color enrich the sound world of the time.
From there we travel on the wings of music us to a monastery garden in Ardo Ran Varres’ Prelude “Pääsuke”. Behind the walls a priest delivers a long sermon, increasingly passionate before dropping suddenly calm – an unsettling impression of monastic life captured in Isang Yun’s Monolog. The girl’s voice of supplication reappears in Alessandro Piccinini’s Partite variate sopra La Monica for solo theorbo.
Some time later, as the girl has joined the congregation, she hears the tale of the wise King Solomon in Isang Yun’s Salomo.
Prayers may be spoken or sung, but always carry mantra-like rhythms and repeated patterns. Marin Marais’ Les Folies d’Espagne reflects this meditative yet dynamic character. In line with historical practice, Trio Lucaria adds its own variations, which grow ever more intense and contemporary, leading directly into the concert’s culmination – the Tallinn premiere of Ardo Ran Varres’ Year of Compassion, dedicated to the 90th birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
PERFORMERS
Trio Lucaria, consisting of Kristin Müürsepp (flute/piccolo), Priit Peterson (guitar/theorbo), and Stefan Heinrich Kerstan (bassoon), has been playing together since the summer of 2022. Their first concert took place on July 1st at St. John’s Church in Tartu, followed by performances at Alatskivi Castle, Vastseliina Church, and the German Cultural Institute in Tartu.
In the summer of 2023, they performed at wind instrument festivals in Otepää and Võru, and in 2024, they played at Knorring Manor in Tartu.
Although the ensemble consists of bass, harmony, and melody instruments, no original music has previously been composed specifically for this combination. Nevertheless, they have put together programs that allow them to fully explore each instrument’s potential, and when necessary, they adapt and arrange music themselves to highlight their best qualities.
House of the Blackheads • Pikk tänav 26, 10133 Tallinn, Harju maakond, Estonia
