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Latvia Today Latvia Today 1 In Brief Baltic Sea Estonia Coastline 498 km Russia Highest point: Gaiziņkalns Rīga Deepest point: 312 m Lake Drīdzis Lithuania 65 m (below sea level) Belarus Weather 1 995 600 Membership Average winter - 6 °C Population of Latvia NATO, EU, UN, OSCE, IMF, WTO, Average summer + 19 °C Eurozone, Schengen, and others. Highest temperature Length of railway tracks: Geographic coordinates: ever recorded + 37.8 °C (2014) 2 161 km 57° 00’ N, 25° 00’ E Lowest temperature Length of roads: LV Length of border: ever recorded - 43.2 °C (1956) 58 926 km 1 866 km Data: 2014, CSB 2 3 State administration “Latvia has performed a miracle in restoring Head of State: stability, growth and optimism in the President, elected by the Parliament country.” Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen, 2014 every 4 years November 18 May 4 Legislative branch Executive branch Judicial branch National holiday. On November 18, 1918, National holiday. On May 4, 1990, the declaration Saeima – unicameral Head of Government: Constitutional Court - the Independence of the Republic of Latvia was “On the Restoration of Independence of the Republic Parliament; 100 seats; Prime Minister a high court that deals proclaimed. of Latvia” was adopted. members elected by Cabinet: Cabinet primarily with proportional representation of Ministers nominated constitutional law from party lists by popular by Prime Minister Highest court – Supreme vote to serve a four-year and appointed by Court, subordinate city term the Parliament and regional courts 41% 15 40 0 singers FACTS AND FIGURES Land Total area: 64 589 km2 2 48% 38% 2 340 km of the overall number of senior managers are women in the biggest a capella choir during the Song and Forest land Agricultural Water (2nd highest rate in the world). Dance Celebration. land Data: McKinsey & Company 14% 62 249 km2 Urban areas Data: 2013, CSB Land 3.8 350 million thousand nights UNESCO approved Historical Centre of Rīga: medieval town elements, 19th century wooden architecture and the finest collection of Art Nouveau buildings in Europe. Strūve Geodetic Arc: a chain of survey triangulations that helped to establish the exact size and shape of the planet in the 19th century. Song and Dance Celebration: a traditional movement that culminates in large-scale festivals every fifth year. spent by tourists in Latvia, with foreign tourists handwritten paper slips, stored in a specially The Suiti: a small community in the western part of Latvia, known for their vocal drone singing, wedding amounting to 2.8 million or 74 percent. (2013). built cabinet, circa 1880. traditions, cuisine, and a remarkable number of folk songs, dances and melodies recorded. 4 5 Driving force: Culture INTRODUCTION Jean Monnet, one of the founding fathers of the European Union, said, “If I had to do it again, I would begin with culture.” For Latvians, culture has always been at the beginning and the core of the nation – it was at the core when Left: the idea of an independent Latvian nation was only taking root. It was at the Kristīne Opolais as core of the more recent independence movement and it was central even to Vitellia in Mozart’s the EU accession debate. If you want to understand Latvia, you might want Clemenza di Tito at the to begin with culture. Latvians are found on the stages of the Metropolitan Bavarian State Opera Opera in New York or Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Plays are staged by Lat- vians not only in Rīga, but also in Berlin, Zurich, Moscow and Vienna. Latvian Below: filmmakers contribute to what the world calls “European cinema”. Violinist Gidons Krēmers Latvian culture looks European to some, and Nordic or Slavic to others. In fact, it is all of these and uniquely Latvian at the same time. Latvia’s culture is too diverse and too vibrant to summarize, so we present some common mo- tives and a few highlights to help your further explorations. It is surprising to what extent traditional culture and folklore serves as an inexhaustible source of inspiration for Latvian artists, designers and architects. Having a language that has ancient roots but is nowadays spoken by only two million people is another source of inspiration. Small language makes it more difficult for great poets and writers to be heard by wider audiences. But look: language is a universe. Is it not a wonderful liberty to have a universe of your own? A universe to nurture and cherish. What does it mean today? Latvians are storytellers. Be it cinema, literature or animation – there is certainly a Latvian voice. The filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein was born in Latvia, as was philosopher Isaiah Berlin, painter Mark Rothko, artist Gustav Klucis, violinist Gidons Krēmers and ballet artist Mikhail Baryshnikov. Richard Wagner lived and worked in Rīga, conducting around 20 operas and premiering five. The real success of culture is not measured in awards and prizes (although Latvians have quite a lot of those, too): the real value of culture lies in the extent to which culture is necessary for its creators and audiences, and how much it is a part of life. And here, culture is part of the air we breathe; it stretches towards the horizon. 6 7 Readers, singers and avid culture fans! FACTS AND FIGURES How many times in the last twelve months have you.... LV 83% LV 72% LV 43% LV 60% TV EU 72% EU 68% EU 52% EU 52% Watched or listened to Read a book at least Been to the cinema Visited a historical a cultural programme once at least once monument or site (pal- on TV or radio at least aces, castles, churches, once gardens, etc.) at least once LV 49% LV 55% LV 39% LV 43% M EU 37% EU 35% EU 31% EU 28% Data: 2013, Special Visited a museum or Been to a concert Visited a public library Been to the theatre Eurobarometer 399 gallery at least once at least once at least once at least once Nationwide Song and Dance Celebration HIGLIGHTS Imagine 15 400 mostly amateur singers on one stage singing a capella with Data: 2014, Ministry of 29 all the nuances, technical skills, tonal colour and style that you would expect Culture of the Republic professional Latvia has from a professional ensemble. Imagine a corps de ballet of 14 800 danc- The XXV Latvian of Latvia theatres ers who perform by creating patterns based upon ancient Latvian designs Nationwide Song and best appreciated from above. Imagine a 50 000 people audience and many XV Dance Celebration 29 professional theatres more watching live on TV. All that, remember, in a country of two million Grand Finale concert at 178 museums people. The Latvian Nationwide Song and Dance Celebration is an incredible the Mežaparks open air 461 choirs phenomenon, recognized as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Herit- stage 866 folk dance ensembles age of Humanity by UNESCO. With the tradition dating back to 1873, it is a 71 brass bands grass-roots event that literally pervades all of Latvian society, engaging huge 248 folklore ensembles numbers of people from all walks of life. Behind the scenes are five years of 1 757 libraries thorough preparation, ancient tradition of singing and dancing, and respect 579 NGOs working in cultural field and interest in the roots of Latvian culture. 8 9 Alvis Hermanis You must have heard of him. He has more than 55 performances to his name, staged in Rīga, Salzburg, Berlin, Vienna, Cologne, Mu- nich, Modena, Moscow, Zurich, and Tallinn. The production Long Life, a theatre piece where five actors perform life in a flat shared by a group of elderly people, has become a benchmark of Hermanis’ documentary approach to theatre – the dramatic material is created together with the actors, based on attentive observations of real-life situations and human behaviour. But it would be wrong to limit Hermanis’ style to that – he is also the author of proficient interpretations of classical literature and dramatic texts. Hermanis has been accurately described as a contemporary thinker who, instead of writing philosophical dissertations, stages performances. Following his thought process continues to excite audiences throughout Europe, even opera fans now. Mariss Jansons “Superb,” “breathtaking” – this is how professional reviews describe conduc- tor Mariss Jansons. King Harald of Norway has named Jansons Commander of Star of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit, the country’s highest honour for non-Norwegians and for Norwegians living abroad. German President Joachim Gauck has presented him with the German Federal Cross of Merit for outstanding service to the Federal Republic of Germany. Music lovers say the same with standing ovations after his concerts. Jansons was born in 1943 to a family of musicians in Rīga under Nazi occupation, grew up there and later moved to what was then Leningrad. Soon after the fall of the Iron Cur- tain, he became a sought-after maestro around the world. Currently, Jansons is the chief conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and chief conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. Though he is one of a kind, Jansons is not alone in the Latvian Olympus of Above: Mariss Jansons conducts conductors and interpreters of music. How such a small country can produce the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra so many world-class musicians remains a mystery. Conductor and music di- in the Latvian National Opera rector of the Boston Symphony Orchestra Andris Nelsons, composer Pēteris Vasks, violinist and music director of Kremerata Baltica Gidons Krēmers, op- Left: Opera Jenufa in La Monnaie Theatre era singers Inese Galante, Elīna Garanča, Maija Kovaļevska, Kristīne Opolais, staged by Alvis Hermanis Egīls Siliņš and Aleksandrs Antoņenko are just a few of the Latvians on stages of world-class concert and opera halls.
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