Raimonds Pauls and Elīna Garanča’s meeting in the concert “If you weren’t …” / Article

They were scheduled to meet earlier this year, but due to the pandemic, Raimonds Pauls’ 85th anniversary dedicated concert with the participation of world – famous opera singer Elīna Garanča was transferred. This weekend, the National Theater will finally have a reunion of both outstanding musical personalities with the audience in the concert “If You Weren’t …”. –

The idea to celebrate the round anniversary on the same stage with the outstanding opera singer Elīna Garanču Maestro came about by performing together five years ago. Maestro makes no secret of the satisfaction that the concert postponed due to the pandemic will finally take place.

Raimonds Pauls has dedicated two new cycle of songs to the singer in the concert program “If You Weren’t …” with a jointly selected poetry by Vizma Belševica and Ojārs Vācietis. The second part of the concert includes Paul’s songs from movies and theater performances. Accompanied by the chamber orchestra “Simfonietta Rīga”, popular melodies in different moods will be heard in new arrangements created by such outstanding composers as Lolita Ritmane, Rihards Dubra, Jēkabs Jančevskis and Raimonds Macats.

“For me, this second part with cinema and theater music is a dream come true. Because I have always been very interested in this genre. You could say that I came into the opera genre by accident, because the call of my heart from the very beginning was theater, ”reveals Elīna Garanča.

Ojārs Rubenis admits: “I can only admire Maestro in his 85 years – endurance and the work he can do. And, of course, Elīna Garanča, who is simply admirable for her non-ambition to everything else and ambition for art. That’s the code of the great artists! ”

The reunion of Maestro and Elīna Garanča will be shown at the National Theater on Friday and Saturday, while the concert will be available on Latvian Television this autumn.

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