There is no break in the tradition established by musicologist Arnolds Klotiņš sixteen years ago – a big concert was organized this year as well. In the picture: Latvian National Symphony Orchestra.
Publicity (Gata Rosenfeld) photo
Armands Znotins, “Culture Marks”, JSC “Latvijas Mediji”
The previous major concert of Latvian symphonic music was one of the last events of 2020, which took place in a crowded hall.
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However, there is no break in the tradition established by musicologist Arnolds Klotiņš sixteen years ago – a big concert was organized this year as well, and the listeners heard musicians from four concert halls at home on the radio or computers.
The Latvian National Symphony Orchestra played on the stage of the Grand Guild, the Latvian National Opera Orchestra and the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra did not have to travel anywhere, but the State Chamber Orchestra “Sinfonietta Rīga” applied the acoustics of the Dzintari Historical Concert Hall to its performance.
By the way, taking into account the imminent reconstruction of the Grand Guild, it must be assumed that next year’s big concert will have different conditions than usual – maybe the capital’s audience will have to go to Liepaja’s “Big Amber”, maybe to Rezekne’s “Gora”.
All that is clear is that the grand concert, which took place on 28 May 2021, took place at an appropriate level, both in terms of the program and the interpretations, as well as in terms of creative new discoveries.
An integral part of a big concert idea is a premiere. And this time it was released by Arturs Maskats, the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andris Poga and soloist Ksenija Sidorova, for the first time bringing to life a concert for accordion and orchestra “… what the wind told the sea”.
In this case, too, the composer could confidently rely on the virtuosity of the soloist, the professional skills of the conductor and the orchestral artists’ immersion in the score, so there was nothing to compare this music with previous opuses.
First of all, now that two successful accordion concerts have taken place, it is possible to differentiate the desired players, where Artūrs Noviks could play not only the music of Gundega Šmite, but also Mārtiņš Viļums, Rolandas Kronlaks and other avant-garde artists, while Ksenija Sidorova would remain works by romantic composers such as Erik Esenvalds or Jēkabs Jančevskis.
The second comparison was made with Muscat’s “Twelfth Liepaja Concert” for piano and orchestra, and here it must be said that the accordion concert surprised with several dramatic accents.
The two scores are united by a poetic sense of the world (which, incidentally, is also reflected in the refined and sophisticated timbre world), the psychological richness of both scores is enhanced by dancing undercurrents that almost never surface, but the accordion’s inner tension and contrasting twists and turns.
And although the composer has said that the title of the new score refers to the Baltic Sea, I think that the Mediterranean Sea, the Romanesque culture with Federico Garcia Lorca called in the context of the piano concerto – remains still encrypted – due to the image and character of Ksenia Sidorova in Spain.
Andris Dzenītis ‘(SIN) fonietta, written in 2014 for the Sinfonietta Rīga chamber orchestra conducted by Muscat-Normunds Šnee, and the musicians’ return to the premiere score in 2015, justified themselves first and foremost in terms of the fulfillment of interpretation, allowing both the conductor and the string to be judged. the mastery of wind and percussionists and their understanding of the message of the chosen music.
At that time, six years ago, I described Dzenitis’ (SIN) foniettu as one of his most outstanding achievements. And now that the Sinfonietta Rīga repertoire includes the Euphoria composed in 2017, I can add that it is probably worth trying to play both scores as a diptych, where the drama, existential dimensions and world feelings of the (SIN) phonetta the most tragic aspects would be balanced by the vitality and energy of the later symphonic opus.
Of course, each of these compositions separately is also a proof of Andris Dzenītis’ ability to express the most serious and authentic feelings and thoughts in the composition and in the range of orchestral nuances. And in the context of the big concert program, it is also worth remembering such a long-unheard composer’s score as a concert for two kokles, flute, accordion and orchestra “Alba”.
At the beginning of the concert – Adolf Skulte’s “Choreographic Poem” performed by the Latvian National Opera Orchestra conducted by Mārtiņš Ozoliņš.
Music that evokes sympathy with the already mentioned qualities of instrumentation, with a skilfully crafted form and, without a doubt, also with a light spectrum of emotions, a constant presence of dance and the expressiveness of intonations.
Appropriate angles of interpretation were also achieved for these qualities of the soundtrack, and it remains to be hoped that in the future Latvian orchestras will give a proper evaluation to all nine Adolf Skulte symphonies.
At the end of the concert – Imants Kalniņš’s Fifth Symphony. And it is quite natural that the Liepaja Symphony Orchestra and conductor Ainārs Rubiķis chose this score literally immediately after the composer’s eightieth birthday.
However, in that case it would be even better if the Kalniņš Fifth Symphony Orchestra also played in the right cohesiveness and precision, because this time it was very well heard that the expansive movement of the first part of the composition recorded by the conductor is not accompanied by a wind solo or the orchestra as a whole.
On the other hand, if the score of the Fifth Symphony were to be looked at by much more famous interpreters, they would probably say that this monumental sound structure is also superfluous, especially where the thematic development consists only of primitive sequences – but the complexity and individuality of the music deserves the most professional and attentive treatment.
Finally, Imants Kalniņš’s symphonies are played by at least Latvian orchestras. But what about Edmund Goldstein, Alfred Tiss, Longin Apkalns, Gederts Raman? All these authors no longer have a hundredth anniversary, and the grand concert of Latvian symphonic music is also meant to actualize the undeservedly forgotten art of sound.
Themes
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