The international festival continues “Riga Cathedral 2021”. For upcoming concerts and guests, as well as the program “Imants Kalnins and Tango”, which will be performed at the Riga Dome Cathedral on the evening of July 21, the music director of the Riga Dome Cathedral will give more details in Monday’s “Urgent Conversation”. Aigars Reinis and the singer Katrīna Paula Felsberga.
Ilze Medne: Riga Cathedral has opened its doors to listeners and invites to a festival that already has a beautiful and long history. The festival “Riga Dome” is probably one of the most thorough traditions of Riga Dome?
Aigars Reinis: Undoubtedly, the festival is long-lasting, and it took place last year as well. It should be mentioned here that both last year and this year, this is thanks to the support of the Culture Capital Fund, because the restrictions on attendance, and thus the specifics of cash flow, including changes in royalties, have been a huge burden. In any case, the festival takes place, and this year it [atkal] We can call it international, because we have excellent organists visiting us – the concert of the outstanding organist of the “Concertgebouw” in Amsterdam, Leo Van Duselar, has already been performed, providing a wonderful opening ceremony, as well as the outstanding professor Gerhard Weinberger organist Mikhail Schoenith. These are excellences that also make us focus on development and look to Europe and the world.
How do you invite these guests – do they find you or do you seek and invite them? How does cooperation work?
Aigars Reinis: Cooperation has been established for a long time, looking for contacts. However, although the Riga Cathedral and its organ seem to us to be a common thing,
I have concluded that there are still residents of Latvia who have not entered the Riga Dome since childhood or have not been here at all.
However, foreign organists are still very interested in our instrument, they really want to get here, because everyone wants to play an excellent example of romanticism – the Riga Dome organ. At the same time, I find it interesting to hear how they sound, because playing this organ is a challenge: this is a 140-year-old unrebuilt original instrument, unlike, for example, France, where this type of organ has a built-in computer system and various facilities.
The Riga Dome organ is an original instrument, so it is always interesting what great organists do with this instrument – how they cope and what they offer.
How does the tool feel right now? Has this year, when it was not used very intensively, come in handy, or vice versa?
Aigars Reinis: The intensity was definitely lower, but at the same time we have organized live broadcasts, so that the instrument has been playing all the time. True,
a big challenge for the instrument is the current heat – there are some registers that can no longer be tuned so high. So that summer has literally entered the Riga Dome Cathedral.
Fortunately, the heat has receded this week and nothing will stop the two concerts that will celebrate the anniversaries of Latvian composers. Does the Latvian music line seem very important to the Riga Dome Cathedral and its concert organizers?
Aigars Reinis: In the context of the festival, it is important for us to create a diverse program. There must definitely be both classics of organ music – so in a week Bach will play here, and there must also be a premiere and, of course, the music of Latvian composers. It has happened that this week is like a jubilee week, where jubilee music concerts of eight composers will be performed in two concerts – both on July 21 and July 23. On July 21, the concert will combine an interesting line-up – Imants Kalniņš will meet Astor Pjacolla, but Vita Kalnciems’s July 23 concert will also focus on our classics celebrating their anniversaries this year: Pēteris Vasks, Romualds Jermaks, Pauls Dambējs and Imants Zemzaris Indra Riše. We will be able to see how much diversity is possible in Latvian organ music.
Katrīna Paula, your relationship with the Riga Dome began a long time ago, because you, as a singer of the Riga Dome Choir School girls’ choir “Tiara” for many years, have definitely been here more than once. So Riga Cathedral is a church whose vaults you know very well.
Katrīna Paula Felsberga: That’s right. There are many hours spent here in worship, countless concerts, and wonderful Christmas worship. Now it’s a pleasure to come back here as an adult. We have a nice cooperation with Aigars Reins as a service for musical accompanists. Yes,
Riga Cathedral is my favorite church in Latvia and maybe in the world.
What is so special about this church that fascinates you?
Katrīna Paula Felsberga: It is definitely a childhood sentiment, but singing accompanied by such an instrument and special acoustics – it is not comparable with other churches and other rooms. Somehow the feeling for me as a Latvian and as a Rigan is very special here. It is always a big holiday for me to sing in Riga Dome.
The full interview can be read at LSM.LV.
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