Worth seeing, hearing, visiting: Vaice and Parša, Skutelis and Kučinska, Vasks and Kalniņš, “Vilki” and “Blagovest”.
Valentina Freiman’s love story
Wednesday, April 17, at 19.00 in Riga, the premiere of the new multimedia production of the Operetta Theater – the mono-opera “Valentina” will take place in VEF Culture Palace.
It is a new treatment – a camera version – of the full-length opera by the internationally known Latvian composer Arturas Maskats (in the title picture). The title role in the love story of Latvian cultural legend Valentina Freimanes will be played by opera diva Sonora Vaice (soprano, in the title picture), who is also the director of the show.
The opera reveals a contradictory and dramatic panorama of Latvian and European historical events from 1939 to 1944.
“The opera is permeated by a beautiful, bright story permeated with deep feelings of love. Valentine’s charming, intelligent personality, which radiated love, is a complete contrast to the events, time and environment in which the action takes place, it is a testament to the possibility of love regardless of circumstances that have brought great misery and much suffering, and which we never want to experience again, but what are relevant in today’s difficult world situation. With this production, the Operette Theater continues the in-depth study of the theme of a woman’s multifaceted personality in the form of a multimedia mono-opera, which we started in 2021 with Sonora Vaice’s directorial debut production “Human Voice. Telefons”, which won the highest national award in music – the Great Music Award,” says Agija Ozoliņa-Kozlovska, artistic director of the Operetta Theatre.
The opera is a tribute to the cultural legend of Latvia – the outstanding cinematographer Valentīna Freimanes (1922-2018).
“Valentina Freiman’s life was a huge set of values and humanity – consciously or unconsciously. If we were to delve deeper and understand what such wise personalities experienced and went through, wars would end in the world,” said Sonora Vaice, the show’s director.
“I was pleased to learn that there will be a new production of Arthur Muscat’s opera “Valentine” performed by high-quality professionals, and I am looking forward to the premiere on April 17. The events discussed in the opera allow us to look at people during great crises. Even now, the time of war in Ukraine confirms a deep crisis in the western world, in which each of us has a role to play, so I believe that the opera “Valentina” is relevant and will promote reflection on what is essential,” says Liana Lang, author of the libretto.
Valentina Freiman’s childhood passed between Riga and Berlin, where her father was a lawyer at the UFA film studio, and her mother was a charming society lady around whom the flower of the cinema world of that time gathered. After returning to Riga, the intelligent Jewish family was surprised by a mass genocide – a systematic, targeted and brutal extermination of Jews, in which both Valentina’s parents and husband died, but Valentina, who was still very young at the time, hid until the end of the war. Extremely important in the play is the theme of love, which has played an important role in the fate of Valentina Freiman, with her miraculous escape from the horrors of the Holocaust, allowing her to endure to the end.
“In this production, I created the opera, which was originally written in full format, as a mono-opera. My partner musicians will be on stage: violinist Gidons Grīnbergs, accordionist Inita Āboliņa, pianist Māris Žagars, who have been entrusted with a very difficult task. They will also work as actors at the same time, playing different characters in Valentine’s colorful love story,” reveals Sonora Vaice (pictured).
Both pre-filmed videos and audio recorded in the studio will be used in the production, in which the following actors also participated: Đirts Ķesteris, Zigurds Neimanis, Egils Melbārdis, Kārlis Rütentāls, Aivars Krancmanis, Gidons Grīnbergs (pictured), Henrijs Kozlovskis, tap dance master and school developer Māris Pūris, as well as: Iveta Apine, Agnese Pauniņa, Dace Strautmane, Inga Martinsone, Rūdolfs Bacāns, Vitalijs Stankevičs, Pēteris Vaickovskis.
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2024-04-11 04:45:51
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