The ninth Jurmala festival Excellent Latvian and foreign musicians will gather in Dzintari concert hall. World-famous violinist Baiba Skride, tenor Alexander Antonenko, cellist Matthew Barley, piano virtuoso Tris Osokini, accordionist Ksenia Sidorova, Jūrmala Festival Orchestra and others will perform at the concerts. The special guests of the festival will be the stars of Broadway musicals from London. The most beautiful opera arias, operas by Zigmars Liepiņš will also be played Notre Dame concert performance, concert Born in Latvia with the participation of big and rising stars.
The festival will already traditionally start with a sunrise concert on July 16 on Dzintari beach with the main organist of the Elba Philharmonic, Iveta Apkalna, known as the queen of the organ. Her sunrise concert programs are always distinguished by their thoughtful content and dramaturgy, in which the selected compositions organically harmonize with the sounds of nature and gradually prepare us for the miraculous moment of sunrise, giving an unforgettable listening experience, but this year’s novelty will also be special night concert On July 15, in the Small Hall of Dzintari Concert Hall. The outstanding pianist Reinis Zariņš and the British cellist Matthew Barley will perform there – a fascinating musician with a versatile career and amazing artistic freedom. He has already visited Latvia several times and thrilled the audience with his eight-hour long night concerts at the festival To the light, taking listeners to an unusual dimension and providing an indescribable experience. Matthew Barley is also a great improviser who dares to push boundaries and loves to collaborate with musicians of different genres. Reinis Zariņš and Matthew Barley have already performed together several times in Great Britain, as well as in the famous Amsterdam concert hall in the concert hall. The concert will be like a nightly meditation on the genius of Ludwig van Beethoven, slowly reflecting on Beethoven’s life path under the cover of darkness and getting to know his creative development. Beethoven’s five sonatas for cello and piano will be played, which cover all stages of the composer’s work and serve as a compass of Beethoven’s life. In his youth, Beethoven was known as an unparalleled improviser rather than a composer, and it was improvisation that greatly influenced his composition. The concert will also be complemented by free improvisations, paying tribute to Beethoven, the greatest improviser of his time.
On July 16, violinist Baiba Skride, the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra and conductor Jānis Liepiņš will perform a concert of symphonic music. Baiba Skride is one of the most remarkable violinists of our time, whose violin playing is heard in the most famous concert halls of the world. Her rare performances in Latvia are a big event and a celebration of music. In 2001, the violinist won the prestigious Queen Elizabeth Music Competition in Brussels. Since then, Baiba has regularly performed with such prestigious orchestras as the Berlin Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestra, London Orchestra Philarmonia and others. Among the conductors with whom Baiba Skride cooperates are Charles Ditoit, Thierry Fischer, Pāvo Jervi, Nēme Jervi, Andris Nelson and Kirill Petrenko and others. Jānis Liepiņš is one of the most promising and talented conductors of his generation, a sought-after opera conductor who has regularly collaborated with outstanding opera singers. Since 2019, he has been the first conductor of the Mannheim National Opera.
On July 17 and 18, listeners will have a unique opportunity to hear the operas of the iconic Sigmar Liepins Notre Dame concert performance. Zigmar Liepiņš’s opera once became a symbol of Latvian opera music, the production of which was a great success at the Latvian National Opera and was performed 96 times. The CD version of the opera became the most requested recording of Latvian opera music. The heartbreaking music of Sigmars Liepiņš, the tragic love story of Esmeralda and Quasimodo tell us about the unbreakable strength of the spirit and the ability to love beyond borders.
on July 19 Jurmala festival the virtuoso accordion diva Ksenia Sidorova will perform together with the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra and its chief conductor Gunti Kuzma. Ksenia Sidorova has become the ambassador of her instrument in the world, addressing listeners all over the world with her skill and charm of personality. Dressed as a “discoverer” (New York Times) with “breathtaking virtuosity” (The Observer) Ksenia Sidorova has become one of the most prominent accordion virtuosos in the world, and her cleverly balanced, carefully designed programs have made it possible to appreciate the accordion, which has been known as a folk music instrument until now, in a completely new quality.
On July 20, there will be a concert at the festival Born in Latvia, which has already become Jurmala festival tradition. At the concert, musicians of different generations will meet on one stage, musical luminaries born in Latvia – both young talents, the most visible artists of Latvian concert life, and Latvian musicians with international fame, whose performances in their homeland are always a welcome event. Among the artists will be tenor Aleksandrs Antonenko, violinist Baiba Skride, accordionist Ksenia Sidorova, as well as talented young musicians. The Jūrmala Festival Orchestra will be conducted by Ainārs Rubiķis, chief conductor of the Berlin Comic Opera.
On July 21, a piano music concert with the outstanding pianists of the Osokina dynasty is expected at the festival. The union of three Osokins – two sons and a father – has become a brand of piano art both in Latvia and abroad. The piano playing of Andrej and Georgij Osokina has earned considerable recognition in the international arena, while their father Sergejs is one of the most respected musicians in Latvia. The Osokins’ joint concerts always feature the most beautiful golden repertoire of piano music and classical music masterpieces in original arrangements, both for four-handed, two and even three pianos.
On July 22, with a golden selection of Broadway musicals, the festival will be visited by outstanding English stage theater stars, world-renowned singing actors who have performed at the Royal Albert Hall, London Barbican, at Glastonbury, and West End in a theater that, along with New York’s Broadway, is the highest level musical theater in the world. The musical has rightfully become a world favorite genre, in which intense and touching plots are interwoven with breathtaking dances and emotionally appealing music. At Jurmala festival the orchestra will be conducted by Robert Purvis, who has conducted countless productions in the famous West End at the theater in London.
At the end of the Jurmala festival, on July 23, there will be a Gala concert with the most beautiful opera arias. The world-famous Latvian tenor Aleksandrs Antonenko will sing at the concert, for whom this is already his 25th season on stage. In his impressive career, he has performed on the stages of the world’s most prominent opera houses and concerts, singing and living leading tenor roles, in total close to thirty. Metropolitan Opera in New York, Milan the staircase, London’s Covent Garden Opera is just a few of the prestigious stages that have invited Alexander Antonenko to opera productions. Alongside Jurmala festival Antonenko’s other stage friends will also perform for the orchestra at the concert.
Tickets: www.bilesuparadize.lv
40% discount on all advance tickets Ticket paradises at the box office until January 31.
