Concert marking the 80th birthday of the outstanding opera singer Mati Palm

A gala concert was held in Tallinn to mark the 80th birthday of the outstanding opera singer MATI PALM (13.01.1942 – 28.05.2018). His unique voice and masterful performance of more than 300 musical works were applauded at La Scala in Milan, the Komische Oper Berlin, the Bolshoi Theatre (Moscow), the Mariinsky Theatre (St Petersburg), the National Opera of Belarus (Minsk), the Savonlinna Opera Festival (Finland), the Paris National Opera and the National Opera of Ukraine (Kyiv).

From 1969 he was a soloist of the Estonian National Opera. Over the years he was also a soloist of the Berlin State Opera and the Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires, Argentina). He was a laureate of the F. Viñas singing competition (1972, Barcelona). In the 1990s he toured Italy with Ukrainian theatres (the Donetsk, Kharkiv and Odesa operas). He spoke four languages fluently.

The great maestro’s talented students expressed their love and gratitude to their mentor in the language of music. Among the many performers was our compatriot Pavlo Balakin, a graduate of the Donetsk Conservatory. Pavlo came to Estonia in 2008 and studied with Professor Mati Palm at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. He learned not only to sing but also mastered the Estonian language. Pavlo Balakin is a soloist of the Latvian National Opera, but from time to time he returns to the Tallinn opera stage, which has become home to him.

Each of his appearances at the anniversary concert was met with especially stormy applause. The host even joked that only rock musicians at stadiums get such a loud welcome. Besides Pavlo Balakin, the concert featured wonderful opera performers – Mati Palm’s students, the charming KARIS TRASS, KRISTEL PARTNA, KADI JÜRGENS, MONIKA-EVELIN LIIV, JUULI LILL, the powerful MART JAKOBSON and the outstanding Estonian actor KALLE SEPP. At the end of the memorial concert, Mati Palm’s granddaughter Helene Palm presented each performer with a bouquet of flowers.

Many thanks to the Association of Ukrainian Organisations in Estonia and personally to Liubov Laur for the opportunity not only to enjoy the concert but also to talk with outstanding Ukrainians who live and work in Estonia.