May Day Concert: May Day avec Piaf
Singer Valérie Gabail performs Édith Piaf’s classic chansons in a May Day concert by the Tapiola Sinfonietta, brimming with Parisian atmosphere.
Mahler’s Fifth Symphony is particularly remembered for its beautiful Adagietto for strings and harp, which was heard in Visconti’s film Death in Venice, at President Kennedy’s funeral, and at memorial services for the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Holly Choe, conductor
Siljamari Heikinheimo, director
Joonas Tikkanen, scenographer
Gustav Mahler: Symphony no. 5 in C sharp minor (arr. Yoon Jae Lee)
Mahler’s Symphony no. 5 is known particularly for its achingly beautiful Adagietto for strings and harp, which was included in the Visconti film Death in Venice and was performed at President Kennedy’s funeral and at memorial services for 9/11. Mahler wrote the piece as a love letter to his newly wedded wife Alma, but in the context of this great Symphony it is a brief moment of tranquillity en route from the funeral march of the opening to the tumultuously optimistic finale. Lighting brings a visual aspect to this performance, conducted by Korean-American conductor Holly Choe, a rising star who has been assistant to Esa-Pekka Salonen and Paavo Järvi and who will take up the post of Conductor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra in 2026.
Afterparty in the foyer following the concert.
Tapiola Hall, Espoo Cultural Centre
Tickets 10–35€ + subscription fees (starting at €1.50 + 0.65% of the total amount of the order www.lippu.fi)
Tickets 10–35€ + subscription fees (starting at €1.50 + 0.65% of the total amount of the order www.lippu.fi)
Singer Valérie Gabail performs Édith Piaf’s classic chansons in a May Day concert by the Tapiola Sinfonietta, brimming with Parisian atmosphere.
Maria Wloszczowska, concertmaster of the European Chamber Orchestra, makes her Tapiola debut.