On April 20, the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra (LSO) will play Ludwig van Beethoven’s Eighth Symphony under the leadership of the internationally recognized Latvian conductor Atvaras Lakstīgalas. With this concert, Lakstigala will have fulfilled his dream, and his repertoire will include all nine symphonies of the Viennese classic, “Delfi” informs the organizers of the concert.
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“The eighth symphony is special to me!” says Atvars Lakstīgala. “Of all the scores of Beethoven’s symphonies, as a teenager I held the score of the Eighth in my hands for the first time. When I was studying at the Jázeps Mediņš Music High School, I chose this score completely randomly from the library, just to flip through it and try to imagine myself as a conductor. It was with this symphony that I entered the Academy of Music as a conductor and , although at the entrance exam I was playing the piano with four hands, I imagined it to be an orchestra. Later, over the course of seven years, together with the LSO, we played all the major symphonies one after the other, except for the Eighth, which until now had remained an unfulfilled dream for us, which will become for real!”
Eighth Symphony in Famajor Op. 93 is called one of the most beautiful symphonies of the 19th century. According to music reviewer Orests Silabriedis: “Beethoven’s non-numbered symphonies are considered to be more important: Third, Fifth, Seventh, Ninth. However, in my subjective opinion, the most attractive are the Fourth and Eighth, and I know that I am not alone in this view. The vitality of the Eighth Symphony, the slightly shameless briskness , the graceful dance of the second part, the tenderness of the minuet and the vigor of the finale, in general, create an exciting landscape in which it is a pleasure to stay.”
Ludwig van Beethoven is called the last titan of the “Viennese classics”. Modern researchers believe that he practically reinvented the symphony genre. The composer created 240 musical compositions, nine of which are completed symphonies, five piano concertos, 18 pieces for string quartet, as well as one completed opera “Fidelio”. So far, Atvars Lakstigala has played all of Beethoven’s piano concertos, a large part of the overtures and eight symphonies. For the performance of the Third Symphony in the Cēsis Concert Hall, the conductor received the Latvian state’s highest award in music, the Great Music Award, in the nomination category for outstanding interpretation.
“It is natural that a professional conductor has all of Beethoven’s symphonies in his repertoire,” Lakstigala describes her relationship with the composer. “Only everyone has a different story and relationship with the great piece. I call Beethoven my composer. I am inspired by him, I draw energy from him and I can pass it on to the listeners. Beethoven’s music for me is like holy scriptures or high-quality literature that you want to read again and again . It expresses a lot of energy, which includes love, drama, pain, joy, play – absolutely all human emotions! The same Beethoven opus can be translated differently for every life situation.”
On April 20, the concert will take place in the Liepaja concert hall “Lielais dzintars” as part of the “Symphony closer” concert series.
The concert and conversation “Symphony closer. Beethoven’s Eighth” will begin with the introductory words of music reviewer Orest Silabriežs, which will reveal the context of the time when the symphony was created and the details of the masterpiece’s construction. After the concert, those present will be invited to an informal conversation with conductor Atvaras Lakstīgal.
Atvars Lakstīgala is a laureate of international competitions. He won the big music award as a conductor in the category “For an outstanding debut”. He was the chief conductor of the LSO. Together with the LSO, more than 20 album recordings were made in the publishers “Skani”, “Wergo”, “Odradek” and “Danacord”. The conductor’s guest tours span Germany, Turkey, Lithuania, Italy, China, India and Brazil.
