Egils UPATNIEKS – oboe
Rihards PLEŠANOVS – piano
Singers of the Latvian Radio Choir
Conductor Guntis KUZMA
Programme:
Santa RATNIECE Muqarnas for Piano
Luciano BERIO Sequenza VII for Oboe
György LIGETI Three Études for Piano
Steve REICH The Desert Music
In the first concert of the LNSO Summer Festival, we will hear three miniatures and an outstanding minimalist masterpiece. The subtle and magnificent musical painting by Santa Ratniece reflects the ornamented vaulting – muqarnas – typical of Arabic and Persian architecture. According to Luciano Berio, his Sequenza for oboe is meant to be played by a virtuoso who is not only proficient technically but who has a “virtuosity of the intellect” as well. György Ligeti incorporates the most unimaginable rhythm games into his études. Meanwhile, Steve Reich’s Desert Music is one of the most powerful works of American minimalism. It is based on the poetry of William Carlos Williams, where light, symbolising creativity, imagination, and love, takes precedence over darkness and destruction. “Who most shall advance the light – call it what you may!” say Williams and Reich.