Category: Misc

{mosimage}For a small country, it has a big voice – many thousands of them. While most nations measure their international prestige in sporting or economic terms, Estonia prides itself on its singing. 

T

he 25th Song Celebration (Laulupidu), titled “To breathe as one”, was held at Lauluväljak (Tallinn Song Festival Grounds) on 2-5 July and its importance to the Estonian psyche cannot be exaggerated. The last in 2004 attracted a crowd of over 200,000 plus 35,000 choral singers and 2,000 musicians raising their voices  in traditional and modern song. 

Fittingly, a statue of Gustav Ernesaks (1908-1993), 'the Father of the Festival', has looked down over the vast field since 2004 to the huge arched roof  under which the choirs perform. He was the event's head organiser and chief choirmaster for nearly 50 years as well as being a noted composer who put to music Mu isamaa on minu arm (My country is my love) the poem by Estonia’s pre-eminent female poet Lydia Koidula. 

“This song is very important for all Estonians, it’s the symbol of our freedom,” says Margot Holts, Lauluväljak’s Marketing Director. 

2009 marked the festival’s 140th anniversary and it has mushroomed in significance and size from its origins in the city of Tarttu, where a small  museum traces its history. Naturally, during Estonia's Russian and Soviet periods, it acted as a siren for the Estonian soul. So why was it allowed when Estonia was part of the Soviet Union from 1944 to1991? (The current TSFG was even built in 1959 although the then radical design was by Estonian architects Kotli and Sepmann) 

Blissful Ignorance

{mosimage}"The powers in  Moscow saw it as a cultural event only. They were so far removed that they didn’t realize it was so totemic for us,” explains Mall Oja of Tallinn’s Tourist Bureau.   

During occupation, it was held with red flag flying, while the throng defiantly sang for freedom. Before independence came in 1991, the last Soviet event attended by 300,000 in 1988 was dubbed ‘The singing revolution’. This and the subsequent one in 1992 exhaled pride and joy which was breathed in deeply by the entire nation.

Plucked young, matured carefully

Since 1934, the festival has been combined with the Dance Celebration (at nearby Kalev Stadium) that has now had its 18th edition. Over 50,000 choir and 20,000 dancing applications (from abroad too) were received, which were whittled down – only the best will do.  

Estonian choristry skims off the cream from an early age – mirroring the process of the sports world. Choristers from village to city join a major choir as young as five years old. The gifted are trialled, selected and trained at such elite bodies as the Estonian National Opera Boys’ Choir. 

{mosimage}Under the professional tutelage of ENOBC's Artistic Director Hirvo Surva and others, they are trained in breathing, singing and timing. Estonian choirs have received applause and awards abroad from the Llangollen Choir Competition and Hungary’s Cantemus Choral Festival among others. Singers and dancers this year came from North America, the Nordics, UK, Ukraine, Hungary and Russia. 

A typical participant was Feliks Mägus, Chairman of the Nordic Hotel s group who joined a choir aged 7 and then sang until he graduated, literally, to the Tarttu men's choir Akadeemiline Emajõgi. As he puts it “The Song Festival has always been a place to enjoy singing and to feel that all Estonians are as one nation.”   

But the sound and atmosphere created by 100,000 voices is unforgettable in the ten or so songs that are performed together en masse. “Our programme always includes difficult pieces which require balance and careful rehearsal,” comments Surva. “And we always start with Koit and finish with Mu isamaa on mu arm for the older generation.” 

Held every four years like the Olympics and other great sporting occasions, this mean that those who take part have an indelible experience. Although not everyone who wishes can attend in person, the volume and atmosphere produced by the ensemble when singing together means that their voices carry far beyond the sound limits and into the hearts and souls of absentees too. 

Not many years ago, videogames were still seen as children’s play, with the media usually more focused on polemical issues like the impact of violent content on youngster’s behaviours. Luckily, nowadays the trend seems to be reverted, with more adults watching the videogames market not only as an entertaining, but also as a nice way of making a profitable business. Obviously Finland, a country that boasts its love for new technologies as a national trademark, could not get impartial to the juicy fruit that videogames industry represent nowadays. Finnish game industry is doubling the average growth of its international counterparts, a situation that continues evolving. The industry doubled its turnover in 2007 and places itself firmly in a steep growth curve. The country counts with around 60 companies listed as developers or content providers, adding a similar figure for companies focused on consulting, content creation and other tasks related to videogames. Games in Finland are not only developed for well-established platforms like video consoles or personal computers, but also for arising markets like mobile phones or online social networks.

Espoo, Pasila and Mark Wahlberg

Espoo is a city located just close to the capital Helsinki. And no, it is not that the American actor has not bought a house there (yet). Espoo is the location for the headquarters of Remedy Entertainment, the “fathers” of Max Payne character. Probably some of you have watched in the cinemas this year the last successful Wahlberg’s performance in the role of Max Payne but maybe you did not know that the character was born in Finland, with a videogame released in 2001 that quickly caught the attention of millions of fans, and developed into a sequel: “Max Payne: The Fall of Max Payne”. The saga is the most successful one in Finnish game industry, having sold so far more than 8 million copies for Pc, PS2 and Xbox. “We are thrilled with how well Max Payne has done; a number one game and now a number one movie! The commercial and critical success of Max Payne is a sum of many factors. In the end, it comes down to entertaining a lot of people really well” says Matias Myllyrinne, business director at Remedy Entertainment.

The company is currently developing a new title: “Alan Wake”, a psychological action thriller that will try to continue the path of success of the company dealing with the new generation of consoles and PC, whose release in partnership with the giant Microsoft games supposes another milestone in the history of the company: “There is no room for complacency and we remain hungry to outdo our past achievements; “Alan Wake” must define and establish the thriller genre in games. With Microsoft there is a great fit of complementary talents and a shared passion to create something awesome. Their wide resources and strong and dedicated team allow us to focus on the making Alan Wake the game it deserves to be and to continue our track record of success.