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LATVIAN INSTITUTE FACTSHEET NO 13 FEBRUARY 3, 2010 LATVIA – LAND OF MUSICIANS ? LATVIANS IN THE WORLD ARE NEVER TOO SHY TO REMIND OTHERS : I AM FROM LATVIA Article by Inese LūsiĦa, newspaper “Diena” In today’s world it isn’t acceptable to identify the country an artist comes from on concert and performance posters, because it’s fairly self-evident that big artists travel endlessly and belong to world. Plus, it’s sometimes impossible to define a piece of music as belonging to one land, country or nation; an artist may be born in a mixed family, may have studied abroad, or moved to live elsewhere. And if citizenship has changed as well... then what country does this star represent? “I am a citizen of the world ,” said world famous cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, when he was asked about his citizenship. Many outstanding personalities see themselves this way and they can’t be blamed. But for now, Latvian musicians don’t say that. During press conferences and interviews, they are not too shy to remind others: I am from Latvia! Even if they no longer live in the land of their birth and return only occasionally. And everyone knows that world famous conductor Mariss Jansons is from Latvia, under whose leadership the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra from the Netherlands has become the best orchestra in the world; according to a poll of international experts in the influential music magazine Gramophone they have pushed the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra from its lofty pedestal! The same can be said for his energetically impressive student, Andris Nelsons, whose musical talent, skills and charisma were praised by The Financial Times several years ago: “ Nelsons seems to have it all! ” He is leading the Birmingham Symphonic Orchestra for the second season, last year splendidly debuted in London Prom’s , at the Salzburg, Lucerne and Berlin festivals, as well as several famous opera-houses (among them, London’s Royal Opera in Covent Garden and the New York Metropolitan Opera). This year he will conduct in Bayreuth where he is rehearsing Lohengrin . Our opera diva Elīna Garanča, who is now performing the lead role in the revival of Bizet’s Carmen at the New York Metropolitan Opera, was recognized as the best singer of 2009 both in the USA and Europe. The magazine Musical America has just declared her to be the year’s best singer, but before that she repeatedly received the ECHO Klassik award in Germany. On the 26 th of January she has received the MIDEM Classical Award as Singer of the Year in the influential forum of music industry in Cannes. But this is only a part of award harvest she has received. By the way, in the list of the ECHO Klassik awards Latvian names keep circling about, including our violinist Baiba Skride and her sister pianist Lauma Skride. The first organist to ever receive this award was Iveta Apkalna. On the list of musicians recognized by MIDEM is also composer Pēteris Vasks. Opera singers with brilliant and fast moving international careers, not only in the USA and Europe, but also in Asia (Japan) are Maija KovaĜevska and Marina Rebeka (opera sopranos and laureates of prestigious international singing competitions), and tenor Aleksandrs AntoĦenko, who didn’t need to compete to prove his abilities. Also rapidly progressing is the career of 1 Kristīne Opolais – she has already proved herself in the Berlin and Vienna State operas, in La Scala (Milan) and the Finnish National opera. We also look forward to the debuts of M. KovaĜevska, E. Garanča, A. AntoĦenko and A. Nelsons in the Festival d’Aix en Provence this summer and the New York Metropolitan Opera next year. Sometimes they undertake their stellar journeys together, for example when A. Nelsons and M. KovaĜevska perform in the New York Metropolitan Opera performance Turandot . In October violinist Baiba Skride will play a solo in the conductor’s debut with Berlin’s philharmonic musicians. Highly valued, like fine wine, are the performances of Inese Galante and Inga Kalna. Bass- baritone Egīls SiliĦš is one of the Europe’s most prominent and sought after interpreters of Wagner characters. It is hard to keep up with the paths being pioneered by two of Queen Elizabeth International Music Competition of Belgium laureates, Baiba Skride and Vineta Sareika. They pass not only across the USA and Europe but also through Asia. Baiba Skride is recognized and eagerly awaited by listeners even in New Zealand; contra tenor Sergejs Jēgers is already a favourite and repeat guest in New Caledonia. Kristīne Blaumane is the first cello in the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Marta Sudraba performs both as a solo artist and together with Gidon Kremer and his orchestra Kremerata Baltica . Kremerata Baltica is a brilliant Baltic cultural ambassador itself and a recipient of a Grammy award. And then there are those internationally performing musicians who can be heard in Latvia only on rare occasions, for example pianists Lauma Skride, Vestards Šimkus and Armands Ābols (who lives in Chile); the latter two have triumphed in the Maria Canals International Music Competition in Barcelona. Contrabassist Gunārs Upatnieks, who in autumn 2009 enjoyed a double triumph (evaluated both by listeners and the jury) in one of the most prominent and publicly well known musical competitions, the ARD in Munich, and organist Iveta Apkalna, who lives in Berlin, have set themselves goals to popularize the instruments they play. Ieva Apkalna says, “ I want the organist to be seen ” and doesn’t feel awkward to play in the middle of the stage of concert halls or display herself on the big screen while playing in the organ gallery in cathedrals. She often performs as a soloist with an orchestra, which is not a common practice for organists. This Latvian organist has even succeeded in ensuring that the organ is now regularly heard at the Berlin Philharmonic. Although it was installed at initiative of the famous maestro Herbert von Karajan, he never used it. This is the second year that the organ recital series is taking place! And of course, I. Apkalna is a part of it. This year she will collaborate with the Berlin’s philharmonic musicians again, and in March she will give concerts in San Francisco’s Symphony Hall , the Dome of Cologne and in Haarlem (the organ Mecca of the Netherlands). However in the latter half of the year she will give a concert in Budapest, together with the youth choir Kamēr conducted by Māris Sirmais. Speaking of choirs, in April we have to keep our fingers crossed again for our choir in the famous European Grand Prix competition. This year competing with the world’s best amateur choirs will be the Girls Choir of Rīga Dome Choir School conducted by Aira BirziĦa. Often called the best in the world and always in demand is the Latvian Radio Choir (conductors Sigvards KĜava and Kaspars PutniĦš), and State Academic Choir Latvija (conducted by Māris Sirmais). Both choirs debuted last year in the Netherlands concert hall Concertgebouw (it is considered to be one of the best concert halls because of the outstanding acoustics). This year Latvija will return to take part in the concert staging of Richard Wagner’s Parsifal together with the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra and choir. Next year the choir is taking part in the megaproject of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra – in the season of Gustav Mahler, which continues for three years under the leadership of world-famous conductors and marks the 150 anniversary of composer and 100 years of his death. The choir Latvija is invited to the performance of the symphony No. 8 also known as the Symphony of a Thousand that on the 2 March 4, 2010, in the Concertgebouw concert hall in Amsterdam will be conducted by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra artistic director, world-famous Latvian maestro – Mariss Jansons. Choir Latvija will again be a guest with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra in the concert hall Finlandia and music festival in Helsinki. On November 15, the choir will visit New York to sing the music of Arvo Pert and Bach in the Lincoln Centre for the Performing Arts. In European countries, Russia, Israel, Hong Kong etc. tours of the Latvian National Opera and its ballet are highly appreciated. This year the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra is going to visit Japan twice, also together with cellist Mischa Maisky whose birthplace is Latvia. It is impossible to convey everything about everyone of note, so we can only name some bright examples. But it is interesting to note that once in the Hamburg State Opera performance Latvian opera singer Marina Rebeka was called to stand in for Inga Kalna in the title role of Traviata , while last year Kristīne Opolais stood in for M. Rebeka for the same role. It is really an extraordinary phenomenon when you realize just how many bright international music stars little Latvia has produced. And it is not just exaggeration. It is not local patriotic boasting. There is no precise statistical data of how many internationally known musicians we have in comparison with the number of inhabitants at the World music Olympia with their names and deeds. And I haven’t seen other countries boasting such calculations. But I wouldn’t be surprised if Latvia would be a record-holder not only with its economic downturn and unemployment rate but also at the proportional relation that shows the magnificent and remarkable amount of musical talent. Is that a rule or a coincidence? What role is played by our mentality, working habits or the energy generated by ancient castle mounds? And what role is played by musical education in Latvia, which is being reformed in the context of national budget cuts? THE LATVIAN INSTITUTE The Latvian Institute (Latvijas institūts) was established by the Latvian state to provide a wide range of information about Latvia, its society, culture and history.

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