Jānis Baltiņš is a long-time conductor, choir leader, pedagogue and person who, for 20 years, has been planning how best to place the choristers on the Mežaparks stage on long sheets of paper with a pencil and calculator in his living room in Sigulda. In the year of the 150th anniversary of the Song Festival, he has been appointed to the honor of chief conductor, which he can only talk about with great emotion in his voice. Coming from a repressed family, Jānis has fulfilled the dream of his mother, who has now passed away – the wave of his hands will make the chorus of thousands resound.
I worked on the films about the song festival with slightly trembling hands. I am aware that I am touching something absolutely sacred – the core of our identity. At the same time, everyone feels these holidays deeply personally, so everyone probably also has their own understanding of which point of view they should be reflected in the best way. As soon as the camera is on, that’s our chosen angle.
Žilde-Krevica emphasizes that working on the film took place “with slightly trembling hands.” She says that it is important to realize what the song festival means to each of us and then show it all to the audience, which is a responsible task.
Find out about the uniqueness of the Latvian song and dance festival tradition from March 4 every Saturday at 19.25 on TV3 and “tv3.lv” channels. These will be nine stories about how the greatest holiday in Latvia is created – through an excellent chief conductor, a unique instrument, through strong collectives and local patriotism, which continues even when abroad.
The project is financed by the Media Support Fund from the funds of the Latvian state budget. #SIF_MAF2022
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