The LNSO leaves the Great Guild for two years: discover the new venues

Press release, 16 May 2024

With the start of its 99th concert season, the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra (LNSO) is taking a step out of the ordinary by leaving its home, the Great Guild, for the duration of renovation works. However, the orchestra has ensured that the new season is full of exciting musical adventures, continuing to delight audiences at Hanzas Perons, the Riga Latvian Society House, the Daile Music House, as well as concert halls throughout Latvia.

On 17 May, the Great Guild will host the final concert of the 2023/2024 season, which will be the last event before the Great Guild closes its doors for two years to undergo major renovations.

In the new season, not only will the orchestra be visiting new venues, but the repertoire also promises to be full of magnificent musical surprises. There will be symphonic music concerts featuring renowned Latvian and international artists, as well as the audiences' favourite LNSO chamber music series concerts. As usual, younger listeners will be brought on musical adventures by the orchestra's friends: LeNeSOn the puppet and Goran Gora (Jānis Holšteins‑Upmanis) the storyteller.

A perhaps unexpected, yet wonderful reunion will take place just a few days before the grand season opening concert on Thursday, 19 September, at 7 PM at the Small Hall of the Dzintari Concert Hall in the concert Vineta Sareika and Tarmo Peltokoski: Chamber Music. Vineta Sareika, Latvian violinist, the LNSO's Artist-in-Residence, and concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic, and Tarmo Peltokoski, the LNSO's Music and Artistic Director, will offer the audience exquisite performances of exemplary chamber works, this time with Peltokoski taking the stage as a pianist.

The 2024/2025 season opening concert will delight listeners in two concert halls: on Friday, 20 September, at 7 PM the LNSO will perform at the Vilnius Congress Concert Hall, and on Saturday, 21 September, at 5 PM at Latgale Embassy GORS. Under the baton of the LNSO's Music and Artistic Director Tarmo Peltokoski, the audience will enjoy Arturs Maskats’ Tango, Gustav Holst's The Planets, and Ralph Vaughan Williams' Sinfonia antartica.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, 5 October, at 7 PM at the Riga Latvian Society House, the LNSO’s podium will be taken by the legendary Maestro Jorma Panula, who is hailed as the Father of the Finnish conducting school. The concert will feature Richard Strauss' Oboe Concerto with the solo by Egils Upatnieks, as well as Jean Sibelius' Second Symphony.

On Saturday, 12 October, at 7 PM, Hanzas Perons will host the concert LNSO, Santa Vižine, and Maestro Sinaisky. The programme includes Ādolfs Skulte's symphonic poem Waves, William Walton's Concerto for Viola and Orchestra, and Antonín Dvořák's Eighth Symphony. The concert is included in the LNSO Autumn Subscription 2024.

The LNSO chamber music concerts will now take place at the Daile Music House, with the first event of the new season welcoming listeners on Thursday, 17 October, at 7 PM. The concert LNSO Chamber Music: NYX Trio and Karīna Tatarinova. Čaks. Cityscapes will feature works by Jānis Lūsēns, Lolita Ritmanis, Jēkabs Nīmanis, Marina Vidmonte, and Vilnis Šmīdbergs, accompanied by readings of literary excerpts by Aleksandrs Čaks, and projections of historical landscapes in Riga's parks. This concert is included in the LNSO Chamber Music Subscription 2024/2025.

On Friday, 25 October, at 7 PM the concert LNSO, Kristiina Poska, Brahms, and Mozart with the participation of violinist Georg Sarkisjan will be held at Hanzas Perons. The programme includes Justė Janulytė's Confluere, Johannes Brahms' Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Symphony no. 40.

On Friday, 1 November, at 7 PM at Hanzas Perons and on Saturday, 2 November, at 5 PM at the Cēsis Concert Hall, listeners will be welcome to the concert LNSO, Tarmo Peltokoski, and Strauss' Salome featuring Lithuanian soprano Vida Miknevičiūtė. The concert will feature music by Olivier Messiaen, Claude Debussy, and fragments from Richard Strauss' opera Salome.

On Friday, 8 November, at 7 PM at Hanzas Perons, under the baton of Andris Poga, accordionist Ksenija Sidorova will delight with her performance in the concert LNSO, Ksenija Sidorova, and Andris Poga. The programme will offer Arturs Maskats’ Concerto for Accordion and Orchestra, Rolf Wallin’s Act, and Serge Rachmaninoff's Second Symphony. The concert is included in the LNSO Autumn Subscription 2024.

On Thursday, 28 November, at 7 PM, the Daile Music House will present the concert programme LNSO Chamber Music. Once Upon a Time in Harlem, featuring works by Marina Vidmonte, Claude Bolling, Earle Hagen, Arturs Maskats, Gene Koshinski, and Jānis Rubiks. The concert is included in the LNSO Chamber Music Subscription 2024/2025.

On Saturday, 7 December, at 6 PM, lead by conductor Jānis Stafeckis, the LNSO will perform at the Small Hall of the Dzintari Concert Hall in the concert LNSO, Maskats, and Mendelssohn. The orchestra will be joined on stage by soloist Kristaps Bergs for the performance of the Second Cello Concerto by Arturs Maskats, Composer-in-Residence for the LNSO's 99th season.

Conductor Tarmo Peltokoski will give his final concerts in Latvia in 2024 on Thursday, 19 December, at 7 PM at Hanzas Perons and on Friday, 20 December, at 7 PM at Concert Hall Latvija. Under his baton, the orchestra will perform Sergei Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto and Dmitri Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony. In the piano concerto, the solo will be played by the promising Finnish-Cuban pianist Anton Mejias. The concert on 19 December is included in the LNSO Autumn Subscription 2024.

This season, audiences will also be charmed by the LNSO's New Year’s Eve concerts at several venues across Latvia: on Sunday, 29 December, at 5 PM at the Cēsis Concert Hall, on Monday, 30 December, at 5 PM at Latgale Embassy GORS, and on 3 and 4 January, at 7 PM at Hanzas Perons. The programme includes music by Béla Bartók, Antonín Dvořák, Maurice Ravel, Richard Strauss, and Pablo Sarasate. The orchestra will be accompanied by Ukrainian violinist Bohdan Luts, with Aivis Greters conducting. The LNSO New Year’s Eve Concert on 3 January is included in the LNSO Autumn Subscription 2024.

In the new season, the LNSO has not forgotten about the youngest enthusiasts of classical music, offering several concert programmes with the participation of the children's favourite hero LeNeSOn at Hanzas Perons. On Saturday, 19 October, young listeners will be enchanted in two performances (at 11 AM and 2 PM) of LeNeSOn's Adventures in Southern Europe, followed by the musical event LeNeSOn's Goes North on Saturday, 30 November. These, along with two concert performances in 2025, are included in the LeNeSOn Subscription for the children's concert series. The subscription for the 11 AM performances can be purchased at https://www.bilesuparadize.lv/en/event/140055 and for the 2 PM performances – at https://www.bilesuparadize.lv/en/event/140056.

On Thursday, 12 December, at 7 PM, Hanzas Perons will also host the Symphonic Hit with Goran Gora, a beloved series for young people and classical music amateurs. This time, it will bring together Antonio Vivaldi's famous Four Seasons and the electric cello (soloist Valters Pūce, conductor Artūrs Oskars Mitrēvics) in an exciting combination.

The subscription to the concert series, which includes two more events in spring 2025, is available at https://www.bilesuparadize.lv/en/event/140066.

Tickets for the LNSO concerts of the new season are available at Biļešu paradīze outlets and online at https://www.bilesuparadize.lv/en/organizer/283.