In anticipation of All Saints’ Day, on October 30 in Ventspils, the outstanding British organist Richard Hills will visit the concert hall “Latvija”, who will play the original soundtrack for the horror film classic – the film “Opera Ghost” made by director Rupert Julian in 1925. .
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As the representatives of the concert hall remind, traditionally once a year, at the end of October, an organ music concert takes place in Ventspils, in which various artists create an improvised soundtrack for chrestomathy silent films of the beginning of the last century. This autumn, the organist, the virtuoso of the instrument and the specific genre, Richard Hills, who already met last year, will return to the concert hall “Latvija”. He is recognized as one of the few musicians who is equally well able to combine two worlds of organ music – classical and dramatic.
The artist first studied organ with William Whitehead at Rochester Cathedral, then at Oxford Exeter College, Portsmouth Cathedral and Westminster Abbey, where he was taught by organists Rosemary Field and David Sanger. At the moment, Richard Hill successfully combines a solo career, baroque continuo playing, choir training and teaching, while also being an organist at the St. Mary’s Born Street Church in central London.
Richard Hill has received awards and honors in both his native Britain and the United States, where he was named “Organist of the Year” by the American Theater Organ Society in 2010. The artist’s solo performance has been broadcast many times on national and international television and radio programs, such as BBC Radio 3’s “Choral Evensong” and BBC Radio 2’s “Friday Night is Music Night”. He made his debut at the prestigious BBC Proms in 2013, returning to the festival in 2015 and 2019 with the BBC Scottish Symphony and John Wilson Orchestra. Richard Hill is a member of the Royal College of Organists and a staunch supporter of the British Film Organ Society, where he works as a musical adviser.
On October 30, the audience of the Ventspils concert will have the opportunity to continue getting to know the side of Richard Hill’s film organist, appreciating his musical accompaniment for the film “Opera Ghost”. Despite the fact that immediately after appearing on the screens almost a hundred years ago, both critics and audiences shared the film with mixed feelings, it still stood the test of time and became part of the canon of silent horror cinema.
Film critic Adrian Warren told PopMatters: “The Ghost of Opera is stunning – awkward, beautifully filmed and full of dark, shady Gothic atmosphere. With such strong technical performance and visual attire for Cheney Chaney), an actor in the role of a ghost (aut.), Should make an effort to spoil the film.
Tickets for the concert on October 30 in Ventspils, in the concert hall “Latvija” “Ticket Paradise” box offices.
The concert is intended for a mixed type of audience – both vaccinated, Covid-19 sick and pre-Covid-19 visitors, able to present an interoperable digital certificate, personalized entrance ticket and identity document.
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