Author: Līva Freidenfelde
Source: Līva Freidenfelde
RIGA JURMALA, a new, world-class symphony orchestra festival will be held for the first time this summer in Latvia. The festival’s inaugural season will happen over the course of four weekends, from July 19th to September 1st, with concerts at the Latvian National Opera, the Great Guild and the Dzintari Concert Hall.
The very first one!
Reklāma
The RIGA JURMALA festival is intended to become the most significant annual cultural event in the Northern European region and it’s important that the first festival is marked on a grand scale. The festival organizers have chosen to accent musicians whose names appear on the marquees of the world's most prestigious concert halls, yet have rarely, or never, performed in Latvia. This summer will be full of revelations.
Classical music in the best concert halls
As the city of Riga and state institutions discuss the best solutions for the capital city’s new concert hall, the RIGA JURMALA festival will take place in the architectural pearls of Riga and Jurmala – Latvian National Opera, the Grand Guild, and the most in-demand venue of the summer season – the Great and Small Halls of the Dzintari Concert Hall. In addition to one of the most beautiful beaches on the Baltic Sea, the sounds of pine forest, and the colours of Latvia's summer, festival guests can also expect an unforgettable atmosphere.
Nature and classical music
Latvia, a pearl of natural beauty, is certainly worth discovering! 12,000 rivers, 500 kilometres of white, sandy beaches and half of the country’s territory is forested! One of the festival's cities, Jurmala, has a beach that stretches for 24 kilometres that is surrounded by pristine pine forests. Visitors to the Dzintari Concert Hall receive an unforgettable experience in which Baltic nature melds with the most beautiful sunsets, the rhythms of the sea, and music. No two concerts are alike.
Why a new festival?
The festival is founded on private initiative driven by pride in a land from which so many internationally recognized talents have come! A country with a population of less than 2 million has been able to bring forth contemporary stars such as Mariss Jansons, Andris Nelsons, Gidon Kremer, Mischa Maisky, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Elīna Garanča, Marina Rebecca, and many others. Latvia is also the country with the most cultivated singing traditions in Europe – every five years more than 15,000 choir singers from all over the country gather for a grand concert in the capital. All this is an excellent foundation for a new and ambitious musical event with the goal of becoming the most important destination for cultural tourism in Northern Europe.
Four-in-one
The festival consists of a series of four mini-festivals — four summer weekends, each with five concerts and their centerpiece — one outstanding symphonic music heavyweight orchestra. The gourmets and those who enjoy discovering something new will particularly like the daytime concerts, which will feature performances by artists often described as future stars by the world’s music press.
For the first time in the Baltic region!
Pianists
Rudolf Buchbinder – the most renowned specialist of the music of Beethoven and newly minted face of Deutsche Grammophon’s Beethoven series; pianist, show woman, and charismatic virtuoso Yuja Wang; South Korean idol and International Chopin Piano Competition winner Seong-Jin Cho; piano music’s new and emotional intellectual Jan Lisiecki; one of America’s biggest piano stars of the past decades – Murray Perahia.
Violinists
The youngest winner of the Eurovision competition and the youngest soloist to have played with the Vienna Philharmonic – Julian Rachlin; Siberian winner of many international competitions Vadim Repin.
Singers
One of the best tenors of our time, Grammy Award-nominated Maltese soloist Joseph Calleja. The Chinese nightingale that glows on the stages of all the world’s most prestigious opera houses – Ying Fang.
You can't miss this!
Four of the highest ranked orchestras in the world will be performing exclusive concerts in Latvia in one summer! The pride of Latvia, maestro Mariss Jansons and his Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra; the legendary Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in one of their last concerts together (this fall, the conductor is leaving his post as the IFO's artistic leader, a position which he has held for 50 years); Mikhail Pletnev and the Russian National Orchestra; and British rebels and pioneers Gianandrea Noseda and the London Symphony Orchestra.
Everything about the festival
For programme, tickets, and useful information, please visit riga-jurmala.com
To publish this article please contact BalticTravelnews.eu editorial board
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