PARTICIPANTS
Orchestra RIGA
Conductor Valdis Butāns
Organist Ilona Birģele
Orchestra RIGA is an orchestra (symphonic band) of Riga City Council. In the month of August, it is a tradition of the orchestra to organize “Summer classic” concerts in Riga Cathedral.
If the names of the two greats, J.S. Bach and H. Berlioz, are undisputed figures in the history of classical music, the same could be said about the importance of the third major “B” composer included in this program, James Barnes, in the context of modern symphonic band music. His music for symphonic bands can be described as vividly imaginative, symphonically developed, masterfully and modernly instrumented, and demanding high professionalism from the players.
Traditionally, in the “Summer classics” concert series organized by Orchestra RIGA in the Riga Cathedral, besides the sound of the orchestra, an important role is also given to the excellent organ of the Cathedral Church, which this time will respond to the touch of the versatile and virtuoso organist Ilona Birģele. In her interpretation, not only the organ music of J.S. Bach will be heard, but also the organ works of H. Berlioz, which are very little known to the public of Latvia and the world, which the composer once dedicated to his friend, the organ constructor Eduard Aleksander.
In turn, the orchestra will respond with the picturesquely pastoral 3rd movement from Berlioz’s famous “Symphonie fantastique”, “Passacaglia (Homage on B-A-C-H)” dedicated to J.S. Bach by the virtuoso master American composer Ron Nelson, and James Barnes’ chrestomatic sample of modern symphonic band instrumentation – “Fantasy Variations on a Theme by Niccolo Paganini”.
