PROGRAMME
Part I
Emīls DĀRZIŅŠ Melanholiskais valsis (The Melancholic Waltz)
Andris DZENĪTIS Symphony No. 2 Silts vējš (Warm Wind)
Liepāja Symphony Orchestra and conductor Guntis KUZMA
Jānis PETRAŠKEVIČS Concerto for Violin and Orchestra
Magdalēna GEKA, State Chamber Orchestra Sinfonietta Rīga and conductor Normunds ŠNĒ
Part II
Arvīds ŽILINSKIS Second movement from the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra
Bruno SKULTE Symphonic scherzo Nerrs (The Jester)
Matīss ŽILINSKIS, Latvian National Opera Orchestra and conductor Mārtiņš OZOLIŅŠ
Aleksandrs AVRAMECS New work for symphony orchestra Ausma (Dawn)
Pēteris PLAKIDIS Vēl viena Vēbera opera (One More Weber Opera) for clarinet and symphony orchestra
Mārtiņš CIRCENIS, Latvian National Symphony Orchestra and conductor Aivis GRETERS
PARTICIPANTS
Liepāja Symphony Orchestra
Conductor Guntis KUZMA
Magdalēna GEKA, violin
Sinfonietta Rīga
Conductor Normunds ŠNĒ
Matīss ŽILINSKIS, piano
Latvian National Opera Orchestra
Conductor Mārtiņš OZOLIŅŠ
Mārtiņš CIRCENIS, clarinet
Latvian National Symphony Orchestra
Conductor Aivis GRETERS
2025 marks twenty years since the first Grand Concert of Latvian symphonic music. Over time, this ambitious project has become a strong tradition and a stable part of Latvian concert life. Also this winter, all professional Latvian symphony orchestras will meet on one stage, bringing new life to overlooked classical values and contemporary masterpieces, harmonising with outstanding local soloists and, honouring the composers on this important jubilee, they will even present two new works of Latvian symphonic music to the audience! Instead of the usual atmosphere of the Great Guild Hall, the Grand Concert on 24 January invites you to celebrate Latvian music at the Latvian National Opera.
As is tradition, the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra is entrusted with opening the evening, this time focusing on the musical canvases of two great Latvian melodists. With Guntis Kuzma, the artistic director of the ensemble, at the conductor's podium, the concert will open with the legendary Melanholiskais valsis (The Melancholic Waltz) by Emīls Dārziņš (1875-1910) – the golden foundation of Latvian symphonic music and the most widely performed opus of this year's jubilarian. Next to this emotionally charged essence of Latvianness comes an extremely engaging and deeply personal large-scale work inspired by contemporary Latvia – Andris Dzenītis' (1978) Second Symphony Silts vējš (Warm Wind), which received the Great Music Award 2022 as the New Work of the Year.
One of the concert's most intriguing works is a new composition by Dzenītis' peer Jānis Petraškevičs (1978) – vārdi ar izzudušiem burtiem (Words with Vanished Letters). As essential creative impulses for this one-movement violin concerto, the composer cites an imaginary journey through time and space, references to Franz Schubert's Hurdy-Gurdy Man symbolising melancholic solitude, as well as the phenomenal play of violinist Magdalena Geka, in which a fiery temperament intertwines with soul-touching depth. In a refined reading of the sound jeweller's score, the bright artist will join her colleagues – the chamber orchestra Sinfonietta Rīga, nurtured by Normunds Šnē –, this time changing the role of concertmaster for that of soloist.
Replacing the usual orchestra pit with the white building's stage, the Latvian National Opera Orchestra led by Mārtiņš Ozoliņš will celebrate two composers-jubilarians, both born in the same year, yet with completely different life stories and musical writings. The father of their composition is thought to be Jāzeps Vītols. In honour of Bruno Skulte (1905-1976), who spent almost half his life in exile as an ambassador of Latvian identity, his 1935 symphonic scherzo Nerrs (The Jester) will be performed. And re-encountering the lyricist Arvīds Žilinskis (1905-1993) promises to be very special, as the soloist role in the second movement of his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, composed in 1945, is given to Matīss Žilinskis, the composer and pianist's great-grandson – one of the brightest jazz romantics of the new generation.
Another member of a family rich in musical traditions is Aleksandrs Avramecs (2000) – one of the most intriguing young names in the family of Latvian composers, a talent who forged his mastery under Jānis Petraškevičs' guidance among others. In Avramecs' compositional style, brilliant technique is intertwined with compelling imagery and a particular interest in the multi-layered nature of texture. This is also illustrated by the new work Ausma (Dawn), written for the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, in which the concept of light and brilliance in music is imaginatively examined. With conductor Aivis Greters at the podium and on the verge of world fame and the exquisite clarinettist Mārtiņš Circenis as soloist, the Grand Concert will conclude with Vēl viena Vēbera opera (One More Weber Opera) from 1993 – one of the most impressive concert-genre scores by the great stylist and instrumentation grandmaster Pēteris Plakidis (1947-2017).
