On Sunday, August 29th, the third weekend of the Riga Jurmala Music Festival came to a close with a concert by world-class Latvian soprano Kristīne Opolais and pianist Agnese Egliņa. During the weekend, five classical music concerts were attended by almost 4,000 audience members from Latvia and elsewhere.
During the penultimate festival weekend, attendees were able to enjoy concerts given by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, conductor Daniel Harding and soloists Yefim Bronfman (piano) and Renée Fleming (soprano); as well as special daytime concerts by French pianist Alexandre Kantorow and Latvian pianist Daumants Liepiņš, who was listed last year among Pianist magazine’s top pianists to listen to in 2020 and was the winner of the prestigious Vendome award in the 2019 Verbier Festival, Switzerland.
Due to health reasons, bass-baritone Bryn Terfel cancelled his performance planned for Sunday, August 29th. However, audiences welcomed his replacement Kristīne Opolais, the world-famous Latvian opera singer, and 2020 Latvian Great Music Award-winning pianist Agnese Egliņa, with standing ovations.
In addition to the concerts, musical masterclasses were also presented. In partnership with the US Embassy in Latvia, Renée Fleming gave a masterclass to singers from the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music — Daniils Kuzmins and Ilze Grēvele — who worked on world famous opera arias and romances. The masterclass was watched in person by more than 300 attendees. Meanwhile, August 28th saw a masterclass given by pianist Yefim Bronfman.
Soprano Renée Fleming on the masterclass: “It has been a long time since I enjoyed as warm and hospitable a welcome as I received in Latvia and at the Rīga Jūrmala Festival. I am also pleased to have taken part in a masterclass, which was organised extremely professionally and successfully. I truly enjoyed working with these talented singers, and felt that they were truly responding to my comments.”
This weekend, from September 2nd to 5th, will see the Festival’s closing events and concerts:
On September 2nd, between 5 and 6 p.m., the Latvian National Opera will host a closed press conference with artists from the upcoming concerts. You can watch the press conference online through the Rīga Jūrmala Facebook page and website. To close off the evening, the Great Guild will host Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes’s solo concert at 7 p.m.
On September 3rd, between 9 a.m. and midday, the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music will host a masterclass by Leif Ove Andsnes with students from Latvia and the Baltics, which can be attended in person by those who register for a place. On the same day, the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, conductor Andris Nelsons, soprano Christine Goerke and tenor Klaus Florian Vogt will perform arias from the operas of Wagner. The concert will be broadcast on the evening of September 4th by Latvijas Televīzija.
On September 4th, pianist Mao Fujita will perform a daytime concert at the Great Guild, featuring works by Brahms, Mozart and Strauss, while the Latvian National Opera will host a concert that evening at 7 p.m. featuring the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, conductor Andris Nelsons, soprano Christine Goerke, tenor Klaus Florian Vogt and bass Günther Groissböck.
To close the festival, on September 5th, audiences are invited to a concert by violinist Marc Bouchkov and pianist Mao Fujita at 12:00 at the Great Guild, and at the end of the day to a concert by Portuguese pianist Maria João Pires at the Latvian National Opera.
Tickets to Rīga Jūrmala Festival concerts are available through the festival website: www.riga-jurmala.com
The Festival is supported by: Amber Beverage Group, Food Union and Ekselence ice cream, Balticovo, Uniting History, Rietumu Banka, RTP Global, Zuzeum, Ola Foundation, Riga City Council, Jūrmala City Council, State Culture Capital Foundation, Institut français de Lettonie, BMW, FBO Riga, airBaltic, Baltic Travel Group, Spice shopping centre, Riga International Airport, Rīgas Viļņi publishing and our international partner Credit Suisse.
