To mark its 100 years, the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra (LNSO) will present audiences with a wide-ranging anniversary programme in various concert venues throughout Latvia. The centenary celebrations will begin with concert performances of Richard Wagner’s opera Lohengrin at the Cēsis Art Festival, conducted by the orchestra’s former Music and Artistic Director and current Conductor Laureate – Tarmo Peltokoski. The LNSO is then set to appear at the prestigious La Chaise-Dieu and Berlioz festivals in France, gather audiences at Latgale Embassy GORS for the LNSO Summer Festival, participate in the Sacred Music Festival together with the State Choir LATVIJA, and offer a series of special events at the Riga Congress Hall, featuring distinguished artists from Latvia and abroad.
This season is marked by a significant convergence: while the LNSO celebrates its 100th season, the Cēsis Art Festival welcomes its 20th anniversary. The orchestra and the festival have enjoyed a close creative partnership for many years, with a special place attributed to the now traditional Cēsis Wagneriana series, which has become one of the festival’s defining artistic signatures. Continuing the tradition, the LNSO invites listeners to performances of Richard Wagner’s opera Lohengrin on 6 and 8 August to see the return of Tarmo Peltokoski, avid Finnish conductor and LNSO’s current Conductor Laureate, to the orchestra’s podium. The LNSO will also be joined on stage by the singers of the State Choir LATVIJA, while the principal roles will, as always, be performed by an outstanding cast of soloists: the internationally acclaimed Lithuanian opera star Vida Miknevičiūtė, who is also a favourite of Latvian audiences, will sing Elsa, while the rising Finnish tenor Johan Krogius, who is making a name for himself internationally, will be debuting in the demanding title role. The other parts will also be performed by a distinguished ensemble of Latvian and international artists; director Dāvis Sīmanis will once again delight with video art.
Shortly after the opening of the centenary celebrations in Cēsis, the LNSO and the State Choir LATVIJA will embark on a tour to France, appearing at the Berlioz and La Chaise-Dieu festivals from 19 to 22 August. The concerts will be conducted by the orchestra’s longstanding companion and Artistic Advisor, Andris Poga.
On 28 August, the LNSO will welcome audiences to its home stage at the Riga Congress Hall. Joining the orchestra will be one of today’s most distinguished violinists, Frank Peter Zimmermann, with whom the LNSO once enjoyed a long and fruitful artistic partnership – this time to perform the Violin Concerto by the English composer Sir William Walton. In the second half of the programme, Andris Poga and the orchestra will turn to one of Gustav Mahler’s most enigmatic masterpieces – the rarely performed Seventh Symphony.
As summer draws to a close, the LNSO’s centenary celebrations will continue at Latgale Embassy GORS, which over the years has become one of the orchestra’s most important regional partners. It is here that the audiences will once again be delighted by the LNSO Summer Festival. The festival opens on Saturday, 29 August, with The Very First Concert in the World, a musical adventure for children featuring music by Ernests Mediņš. Later that evening, local audiences and visitors to Latgale will have the opportunity to hear pieces by Gustav Mahler and William Walton. The programme on 30 August offers two further events: the chamber music concert Baroque and Tango, bringing together the outstanding harpsichordist Ieva Saliete, accordionist Artūrs Noviks, and LNSO musicians; and a festive closing concert dedicated to the oeuvre of Raimonds Pauls in vibrant jazz colours. This programme will unite the LNSO, singers from the State Choir LATVIJA, and musicians of the Latvian Radio Big Band, with Aija Vītoliņa and Daumants Kalniņš lending their fine voices as soloists.
The beginning of September will, like always, be marked by the Sacred Music Festival, as the State Choir LATVIJA has once again invited the LNSO to collaborate on a series of joint programmes. On 4 September, the orchestra and the choir will come together at St Peter’s Church in Riga for the concert Poga, Brahms, and Montalbetti, presenting part of the programme performed on the tour to France. On 10 September, under the baton of Māris Sirmais, they will join forces once more at Riga Cathedral for the festival’s closing concert, dedicated to the vocal-symphonic music of Pēteris Vasks.
The centenary celebrations will continue throughout the autumn at the Riga Congress Hall and regional concert venues across Latvia. On 25 and 26 September, audiences in Riga and Cēsis will have the opportunity to hear the orchestra together with the outstanding Latvian violinist Baiba Skride and the LNSO’s Principal Guest Conductor Kristiina Poska. Then, on 8 and 10 October, as part of the ORGANismi festival in Riga and Rēzekne, the LNSO will perform alongside Iveta Apkalna, world-renowned organist and Artist-in-Residence for the orchestra’s 101st season. In a programme devoted to French music, the podium will be taken by the beloved French Maestro Jean-Claude Casadesus. The finale and culmination of the centenary celebrations will come on 25 October in the form of a highly anticipated reunion with the internationally celebrated opera diva Elīna Garanča and the orchestra’s former Music and Artistic Director Karel Mark Chichon. Together with these spectacular artists, the LNSO will render one of the most eloquent declarations of love in Richard Wagner’s oeuvre, the Wesendonck Lieder. They will then be joined by soprano Liene Kinča for a performance of Gustav Mahler’s Second Symphony. Tickets for this concert have already sold out.