Pasión Flamenca
Vaasa City Orchestra
cond. Maano Männi
Maria Rääk & Jose Serrano, dancers
Spring advances, and the heatwave from the Iberian Peninsula thickens in the City Hall’s auditorium as the program offers an entire concert of works clearly influenced by flamenco, under the direction of concertmaster Maano Männi. Best of all, the evening’s soloists are the master dancers Maria Rääk and Jose Serrano, trained at Spain’s foremost flamenco schools. In every movement one feels the freedom and passion of Andalusian Romani music. Among the evening’s composers are, among others, Carmen composer Georges Bizet, zarzuela master Gerónimo Giménez, and Isaac Albéniz, who often drew on Spanish folk music in his works.
Program
Alberto Ginastera
Four dances from the opera ”Estancia” op. 8a
Los trabajadores agrícolas
Danza del trigo
Los peones de hacienda
Danza final. Malambo
Georges Bizet
Parts from Carmen-series 1 & 2
Prélude
Aragonaise
Intermezzo
Séguedille
Habanera
Nocturne
Chanson du Toréador
Bizet-Shchedrin
Fortune-Telling från operan Carmen
Isaac Albeniz
Asturias
Andre Hajj
Flamenco
Pablo de Sarasate
Zapateado
Gerónimo Giménez
La boda de Luis Alonso. Intermezzo
Traditional
Sevillanas para oliva de la Frontera
Jean Sibelius
Valse triste
Artists
Maano Männi, conductor
Maano Männi studied violin at the Estonian Academy of Music under Professor Jüri Gerretz from 1985 to 1992 (Master of Music). He served as concertmaster of the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra from 1993 to 1996 and as principal concertmaster of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra from 1993 to 2000. Since autumn 2002, Männi has been concertmaster of the Vaasa City Orchestra, and from 2004 to 2006 he was guest concertmaster at the Estonian National Opera.
He performs at numerous Nordic festivals, including the Korsholm Music Festival, the Fejø Festival (Denmark), and the Helsinki Chamber Music Festival. In 2001, Männi founded the Tobias String Quartet, with which he has toured throughout Europe. Männi has appeared as a soloist with various orchestras under the baton of Neeme Järvi, Eri Klas, Alexander Vedernikov, Andrey Boreyko, Arvo Volmer, and Juha Kangas. Maano Männi has participated in conducting courses led by Jorma Panula and Leonid Grin and has studied privately with Ilmar Tõnisson. He has conducted the Vaasa and Pärnu City Orchestras as well as Eesti Sinfonietta and Klaaspärlimäng Sinfonietta (Glasperlenspiel Sinfonietta Tallinn).
Männi has recorded for several labels, including Erdenklang and Alba Records. In 2012, the album Six Seasons+ was released, featuring Männi as both conductor and soloist with the Pärnu City Orchestra in works for violin and orchestra by Astor Piazzolla and Evald Vain. The album received high praise, including from critic Igor Garšnek: “Six Seasons+ must be found in every music lover’s record collection!” (Sirp, 10 April 2013). In 2017, Männi conducted the Glasperlenspiel Sinfonietta in Israel in the spring and at the Emilia-Romagna Festival in Italy in the summer. In January 2018, he conducted and appeared as soloist with Eesti Sinfonietta at the Estonia Concert Hall and with the same ensemble in May at the Musikverein in Vienna. From 2019 to 2022, Maano Männi served as Artistic Director of the Tallinn Chamber Music Festival, which stood out for its high artistic level and received significant media attention. The Wish Concerts conceived by Männi are popular both in Vaasa and Pärnu.
Since 2023, he has served as Artistic Director of the Toivo Kuula Days. In summer 2025, Maano Männi performs in Finland and the Baltic countries (including the Korsholm Music Festival and the Palevene Festival in Lithuania, where he conducted the VMU Chamber Orchestra). During the days between Christmas and New Year, Männi organizes for the fourth time the highly popular event “Year-End Music Salon” at the Tikanoja Art Home as well as at Tallinn Town Hall and the Tartu City Museum. Maano Männi plays a 1942 Rodolfo Fredi violin, “Ex Carmirelli.”