You still have to pay yourself
First of all, thanks to the conductor Intas Teterovskis, during this festival of songs, the choirs will have two big concerts on the Mežaparka Grand Stage – “Tīrums. The song’s path” and “Together up”, each with a different repertoire, which is not easy, moreover, it can be learned not in five years, but in a little more than a year, because after the Covid-19 pandemic, full-fledged rehearsals could resume only last spring.
Of course, conductors and choirs are a creative people, and even during the strictest and most absurd restrictions, they looked for and found solutions to continue rehearsals – other choirs tried “Zoom”, or singers went to sing to the conductor individually.
I remember how my choir sang on the roof of our rural culture house in May 2021, when rehearsals were only allowed to take place outdoors – in bird droppings and accompanied by the screeching of ravens. I still watch this video every now and then, because I can’t forget about the manifestations of the covid show.
Secondly, singing in a choir is only a hobby of us, singers, to which we dedicate our free time – late weekday evenings and holidays, if there are concerts, taking this time away from our families. We don’t get a cent for this, on the contrary – we invest our own personal funds, for example, to buy brooches to attach to the choir dress, etc.
That’s why I was surprised and incomprehensible that when preparing for the big event – the song festival, we are still being asked to pay for something. For example, about the sheet music books “Purity. Song path” and “Together up”, which summarize the repertoire of songs sung at concerts – five euros for each. Also on the website “musicabaltica.com” their price is indicated, starting from five euros.
I remember how, at the song festival of 2018, I got the beautiful songbook decorated with a blue garter – in one of the joint rehearsals on the Mežapark stage, they were brought in boxes and the representatives of the choirs were invited into the microphone to receive them and distribute them to the choristers. Free of charge.
Since rural residents, especially those obsessed with art and music, are not the wealthiest part of the population, our conductor, who has both sheet music books, compensates as follows: before each rehearsal, she cleans up the sheet music in the parish library. They are always on the piano so that any singer who needs them can take them.
The ticket prices are surprising
Thirdly, at this song festival, for the first time, every participant of the festival is given the opportunity to receive (for money, of course) one ticket to one of the closing events. The choice is limited, and each participant is given the opportunity to buy only one ticket to the event of his or her industry specified by the Latvian National Culture Center (LNKC).
In mid-February, the choristers of my choir could apply for tickets for the dress rehearsal for the concert “Tīrums. Song Path” on July 5 at 8:30 p.m. (ticket price 20 or 25 euros) or for the concert “Tīrums. The Song Road” on July 6 at 8:30 p.m. (ticket price 35 or 40 euros). In addition, only one date had to be chosen and it is not yet clear whether it will be possible to get to the one applied for, as the local municipality’s cultural department warned us to be prepared that “the date and price of the tickets may not correspond to the request you sent”.
It is possible to request 27 tickets for our team. Those who wanted tickets applied. There was even a peculiar sale of tickets – those who did not want tickets, gave up their tickets in favor of those whose concerts they want to attend in a larger family circle. We don’t know yet when we will get the reserved tickets. We also do not know when we will start being charged for them.
I took the initially announced information that 100 members of the Saeima would receive tickets for the song festival for free, as a slap in the face. The high ticket prices for the audience of the song festival are also surprising.
This year, it is planned to offer tickets in five price groups – for 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 euros for the closing concert of the festival “Together Up” on the Mežaparka Grand Stage. In 2018, however, tickets for the final concert were available in six price groups – for 15, 25, 35, 45, 55 and 65 euros.
Unlike previous celebrations, this year Mežaparks Grand Stage will host not only the final concert, but also the choirs’ grand concert “Cleanliness. Song Path”. The prices for these concerts are slightly lower than for the final concert “Together Up”, and there are not five, but seven ticket price groups available. To the choir concert “Tirums. “Song Road” tickets can be purchased for between 15 and 70 euros.
The audience will also be able to watch the dress rehearsal of both big concerts on the Mežaparka Grand Stage. To “Cleanliness. “Song Road” dress rehearsal ticket prices will be from 40 to 15 euros, and for the “Together Up” dress rehearsal – from 45 to 15 euros.
As a participant, the most pleasant impression left for me was from the dress rehearsal of the 2018 song festival’s closing choir concert, which was attended by simpler people and true lovers of choral music, who did not spare themselves applause, smiles and admiring glances at us singers when we got off the stage and left through the rows of spectators. This sincerity could be felt literally with every cell of the body and soul.
At the final concert, there was already a different atmosphere – celebrities, speeches, tributes, glorifications, more snobbish and indifferent spectators who shoved their expensive video cameras in our faces.
During the holidays, we work as a belly court
40,624 participants have registered for the XXVII General Latvian Song and XVII Dance Festival. 43,219 participants took part in the previous festival. They all have to be accommodated, fed, they have to move from point A and point B – from their place of residence, which is usually a school in Riga, to Mežapark in this case.
I remember with gratitude the staff of the Riga school where my choir lived during the last song festival. We were warmly welcomed and accompanied, receiving compliments on the beautiful dresses and crowns. And the diligent staff of the school canteen always prepared delicious meals on time. Also at midnight when we returned from the dress rehearsal.
It should be reminded that singing is a physical activity that requires a lot of strength and energy, so it is very important to eat well, because otherwise you will not have the strength to sing and withstand the load of rehearsals on the Mežapark stage, which lasted from early morning to late evening at previous song festivals.
Right there at the stage, we were also fed and stood in queues for the toilets. I also remember a curious thing, when in between performances at a concert, the then newly built toilets on the women’s side of the stage (probably from the heavy workload) were clogged and we, girls, boys and men, accompanied by looks and exclamations of surprise, made the decision to go to the men’s toilets, because there were no other options – soon again have to go on stage.
We have received and familiarized ourselves with the rehearsal schedule for this song festival. Our conductor’s comment: “Somehow not enough rehearsals.”
On the other hand, regarding the catering, at the beginning there were rumors that there might not be enough money, but then the figure showed that 10 euros per day will be allocated for the catering of each participant during this song festival. We can already get acquainted with the basic and vegetarian menu for the participants of the holiday. Which of the menus to prefer had to be chosen when registering in the song festival application.
The media reports that festival participants will be provided with free transportation in Riga public transport in cooperation with Riga City Council – each participant will have a special song festival e-ticket worth 10 euros. On the other hand, in cooperation with JSC “Pasažieru vilciens”, movement in zones A and B will be free of charge, upon presentation of the member’s card.
As reported, the XXVII General Latvian Song and XVII Dance Festival will be held in Riga from June 30 to July 9. Their main highlight will be the 150th anniversary of the song festival tradition. The celebration is organized by the Latvian National Cultural Center.
2023-05-01 01:14:10
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