A Chamber Music Concert and Tribute to Opera Singer Jānis Vītiņš: Celebrating the Fifth Year in Île

On June 21, for the fifth year in a row, a chamber music concert and an event honoring Jānis Vītiņš, opera singer, knight of the Lāčplēš Military Order, Jānis Vītiņš, will be held in Île for the fifth year in a row, organized by the municipality of Dobele region in cooperation with the representative of the Vītiņš family, singer and conductor Nora Kalniņi. As “Delfi” informs the organizers of the event, this year, celebrating the fifth anniversary, an extensive three-part musical program is being prepared.

The evening of June 21 will start at 18.00 in the newly renovated Île Lutheran Church with a small sacred music concert, where opuses from the works of Danish and German composers – Dietrich Buxtehude, Heinrich Schitz and Johann Sebastian Bach – will be performed.

at At 7:30 p.m., the usual part of the Winged Hill will follow, this time there will be a particularly sparkling festive program with representatives of the Italian golden baroque – Antonio Vivaldi, Georg Friedrich Handel and the rarely performed Giovanni Alberto Ristori.

At the end of the evening around 21.00, drawing parallels with the past, when Jānis Vītiņš’s wife sang folk songs on the hill on the night of the summer solstice, this year the St. John’s bonfire will be lit and the audience will be able to enjoy a cappella solstice songs interpreted by Anša Bētiņš and Artūrs Čukuras.

On June 21, interpreters of ancient music, singers – Ieva Sumeja, Aija Veismane, Nora Kalniņa and Ansis Bētiņš will perform in Ile. In the instrumental line-up, for the fourth year now, Gertruda Yerjomenko, who plays harpsichord and organ, has remained unchanged. Baroque cellist Māra Botmane, who played there three years ago, will return to Pilskalnas. For the first time in Ile, the duet of two flutes – Kristīne Stumbures and Maija Kļaviņa – will be heard. In the background, the solstice chants of different peoples led by Anšas Bētiņas and Artūrs Čukuras. Following their natural interest in the singing traditions of different periods, regions and styles, Ansis and Artūrs have created a collection of Slavic Songs. The chants are performed in a characteristic “white voice” manner, requiring no substantial vocalization or accompaniment. As usual, the evening will be hosted by Orests Silabriedis.

Entrance tickets can be purchased “Tickets in Paradise”; on the day of the concert, they will also be available at the venue.

Île Lutheran Church and Spārnu Pilskalns

The Lutheran Church of Île is a 17th-century church, which began its third revival eight years ago, when the conductor Ints Teterovskis and the youth choir “Voices” showed interest in it. Since then, the church has been reborn from a slum into a beautiful cultural space in Zemgale – the acoustic concert hall “Île” is gradually becoming a favorite place for both musicians and those who enjoy it. During the year, it has received beautiful interior spaces and sacred interior, work continues on replacing the roof.

Since the summer of 2019, four different chamber music concert programs have been performed on the İle Spārnu Pilskalnis. In the first year, it was the opera “Arrivederci Roma!” for three tenors. In the second year, the concert program “Monteverdi Virsotnes” by Claudio Monteverdi, the founder of baroque opera, was held. In the third year, French and Italian baroque music, dedicated to the dark part of the day, was played, and last year – the “Pastoral of the English Court” by “William Byrd Consort”.

Janis Vītins

Jānis Vītiņš was born on October 14, 1894 in Dzerve Parish, Aizpute County. In 1915, Vītiņa was conscripted into the Russian army, while in 1919 he was mobilized into the Latvian army, where as a first lieutenant he demonstrated heroism in the battles near Bolderāja, and also began to perform in public – to sing. In parallel with his studies at the Latvian Conservatory, Vītiņš also sang in the choir of the Latvian National Opera, where he was increasingly entrusted with solo parts. In 1921, Vītiņa was awarded the Lāčplėš War Order for his battles on November 3, 1919 near the houses of Šmitas and Dreimaņi in Bolderāja district.

Taking into account the recommendation of the demanding maestro Emil Kuper, Vītiņš went to Italy and already in 1929 he performed the role of Rudolph in Puccini’s opera “Bohemia” in Milan. In the same year, he came to Germany, where he signed a contract with the Friedrich Theater in Dessau. Later, a tour was started in Yugoslavia, while in the period from 1931 to 1937, under the stage name Jan Witin, he sang in Germany, Switzerland, Holland and Finland, thus becoming an internationally known and highly regarded Latvian singer alongside Maris Vētras, Rūdolfs Bērziņas and Artūrs Priednieks. tenor.

In 1940, after the occupation, the new government offered Vītiņš to become the director of the opera theater, but, being a true nationalist, he refused, and also called on his colleagues not to agree to the government’s offers. Vītiņš got involved in the newly founded resistance movement “Tēvijas sargi”, where he became the head of the Foreign Relations Department. As a result, on March 6, 1941, he was arrested and accused of espionage for Germany.

Jānis Vītins was executed on November 12, 1941 in Astrakhan prison. Before his death, the heroic tenor is said to have asked for permission to sing an aria from Umberto Giordano’s opera “André Chenier”.