Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Opens Third Week of Riga Jurmala Music Festival Today

This Friday, August 27th, the first concert of the third week of the Rīga Jūrmala Music Festival will take place in the Great Hall of Jūrmala’s Dzintari Concert Hall. The concert will feature Amsterdam’s world-famous Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under conductor Daniel Harding. On August 28th, also at Dzintari, renowned American soprano Renée Fleming, one of the greatest performers of our time, will give a concert with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

During the opening concert on August 27th, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Daniel Harding and world-class pianist Yefim Bronfman will perform Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 37, and Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 in E Major, WAB 107. The concert will also be broadcast on the radio in collaboration with Latvijas Radio 3 Klasika.

Meanwhile, on the evening of August 28th, in the concert featuring soprano Renée Fleming, the Dzintari Concert Hall will feature works by Claude Debussy, Olivier Messiaen and Igor Stravinsky.

Renée Fleming has enchanted the public with her rich voice, consummate artistry and overpowering stage presence. In 2013, U.S. President Barack Obama awarded her a National Medal of Arts, the highest honour for solo performers in the United States. She has won several Grammy awards, including for Best Classical Vocal Solo in 2013, and has performed at special events including the Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Concert at Buckingham Palace. In 2008, she became the first woman in the 125-year history of the New York Metropolitan Opera to open the season premiere concert as a soloist.

On August 27th between 10 and 11 a.m., in collaboration with the United States Embassy, Renée Fleming will give a masterclass at the Great Guild to Daniils Kuzmins and Ilze Grēvele, talented singers from the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, who will work on world-famous opera arias and romances. You can follow the masterclass online through the Rīga Jūrmala Academy Facebook page: facebook.com/rigajurmalaacademy

Organisers of the festival also invite audiences to pianist Alexandre Kantorow’s concert on Saturday, August 28th at the Great Guild. He was the first French pianist to win Gold and the Grand Prix at the prestigious Tchaikovsky Competition. In Riga, he will perform Franz Liszt’s Après une lecture du Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata, and Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Sonata No. 1 in D Minor.

Meanwhile, Latvian pianist Daumants Liepiņš will give a concert at the Great Guild on Sunday, August 29th. Last year, Pianist magazine ranked him among the world’s best pianists to hear in 2020. He won the prestigious Vendome prize at the 2019 Verbier Festival in Switzerland.

The weekend will conclude with bass-baritone Bryn Terfel and pianist Annabel Thwaite in the Small Hall of the Dzintari Concert Hall.

Tickets to Rīga Jūrmala Music 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 County Council, the 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.