Opera concert performances with Karel Mark Chichon and the LNSO have become very popular with the public. La Cenerentola, Tosca, I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Aida - they have all been highlights of Latvia's cultural calendar and have been remembered for the high quality of the artistic result, combining great operatic voices with impressive choir and orchestral performances. This season the tradition continues with yet another challenge - Vincenzo Bellini’s I Puritani – which will be performed for the first time in Riga with a cast of world renowned singers.

Bellini, one of the first Romantic composers and industrious developer of the bel canto style, was a true master of melodies, alternating romantic enthusiasm and elegiac, tender lyricism in his music. I Puritani is his last opera, premiered with huge sensation in 1835. The storyline was borrowed from Walter Scott’s historical novel of the same title – the plot is set in England around 1658. Both Arturo, a follower of the Stuarts, and Riccardo, a Puritan, have fallen in love with Elvira, the daughter of Lord Volton, the leader of the Puritans. The opera follows all the rules of the romantic genre: there is a secret rendezvous, wedding celebration, insanity of the main protagonist, escape and betrayal that is actually a misunderstanding followed by a happy ending. To all those music lovers who attended the Aida performances of last season which was filled with passion, temperament and high drama,I Puritani romises to become yet another highlight in this very special series.