Riga Jurmala Music Festival’s Musical Soirees Come to an End!

Last weekend, from August 14th–16th, the final Riga Jurmala Music Festival Musical Soirees took place as part of the Riga City Festival. As part of the event, visitors could enjoy the informal atmosphere and see the city from a different perspective: through classical music, by listening to Riga Jurmala Music Festival programmes which were not performed this summer.

During the cycle of nine events, which took place in July and August in the cities of Riga and Jūrmala, around 1,500 listeners from Latvia and abroad enjoyed these unusual musical soirees. Recordings of the unperformed concerts were played over the course of the evenings, creating the sensation of melodies emanating from the city itself, its parks, trees and bushes, creating a unique musical experience. Musical enjoyment was enhanced by light installations and an atmosphere created by artist Krišs Salmanis.

As part of the events, great works of classical music including Antonín Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104; Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36; Piano Concerto No. 1 in B♭ minor, Op. 23; and Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35; Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances, Op. 45; Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas; and others.

The programme performed as part of the Riga City Festival (August 15th–16th) was broadcast on the radio by Latvijas Radio 3 Klasika.

“We are pleased to see that this event was attended not only by experienced classical music lovers, but also by young parents with children, others interested in this format, and simple passersby. The Festival’s Musical Soirees turned out to be an excellent format to introduce those who are not usually active classical music listeners to the variety and richness of this genre,” explains Zane Čulkstena, Executive Director of the Riga Jurmala Music Festival.

Photos from all events available on the Festival’s Flickr account HERE!

The Riga Jurmala Musical Soirees were organised in collaboration with Riga City Council and the Riga Tourism Development Bureau, the Ekselence Ice Cream brand and the restaurant BARENTS.

The Rīga Jūrmala Festival is supported by: Amber Beverage Group, Cross Keys Gin, Ekselence Ice Cream, Food Union, Rietumu Banka, Forta Pro, Rīgas Viļņi publishing, Uniting History, Zuzeum, airBaltic, Baltic Travel Group, FBO Riga, Grand Hotel Kempinski, Rigas Dome, Live Riga, and JSC “Latvijas kuģniecība”.