PEARLS AND STARS | 3 recordings of concert performances

In March, the Latvian National Opera and Ballet will continue its online program with three recordings of concert versions of three Italian operas: Vincenzo Bellini’s “Norma”, Giuseppe Verdi’s “Ernani”, and Giacomo Puccini’s “La Rondine”. The unique character of concert performances allows for the fulfilment of the most audacious of dreams. It is an opportunity to perform rarely produced masterpieces on the stage of the Latvian National Opera, giving the Latvian public the opportunity to enjoy interpretations of brilliant local and foreign conductors and soloists. Let them shine!

 

Recordings will be available online at different time:

NORMA – 05.03.2021.-31.03.2021.

ERNANI – 12.03.2021.-31.03.2021.

BEZDELĪGA – 19.03.2021.-31.03.2021.

 

When purchasing the ticket, you’ll receive an e-mail with a link to the recordings and an access code. In the set time frame each recording will be available an unlimited number of times. Recordings will be available with Latvian subtitles.

Each recording may be purchased separately as well.

 

NORMA | Recording of a concert performance

Concert performance of the Vincenzo Belllini’s opera NORMA. Recording of 14.04.2017.

Recording will be available online from 5 until 31 March 2021

 

Norma, High Priestess to the Druids, refuses to start a war with the Romans because she is in love with a Roman – the proconsul Pollione. Norma must choose between revenge and forgiveness, war and peace... Vincenzo Bellini’s “Norma”, composed in 1831, is one of the most beautiful bel canto operas, an outstanding specimen of its genre. “Casta Diva”, the cavatina from its first act, is particularly well known.  

On April 14, 2017, the title role in this concert performance was sung for the first time in Latvia by the soprano star Marina Rebeka. Pollione was sung by the world renown Latvian tenor Aleksandr Antonenko, Oroveso – by the internationally famous Estonian bass Ain Anger, and Adalgisa – the German mezzo soprano Dshamilja Kaiser. The role of Clotilde was interpreted by Laura Grecka and Flavio by Mikhail Chulpaev.  The musical director of the concert performance was the Italian maestro Gaetano D’Espinosa. The director of the video recording was Edmunds Mickus.

 

ERNANI | Recording of a concert performance

Concert performance of the Giuseppe Verdi’s opera ERNANI. Recording of 14.11.2018.

Recording will be available online from 12 until 31 March 2021

 

In the 16th century Spain, the bandit Ernani is in love with Elvira, who is to be married to an elderly man against her will. The King of Spain also loves Elvira. Jealousy, revenge, forgiveness, and the sanctity of the oath lead the characters through meandering roads with love and death as their suite. Giuseppe Verdi got the inspiration for his “Ernani” in Victor Hugo’s play, which is centered around three men who love the same woman.  Because of its vocal complexity, the opera is rarely produced.

Verdi’s “Ernani” at the Latvian National Opera on January 14, 2018, was a star-studded concert performance. The conductor was the world-famous Daniel Oren, one of the best Verdi interpreters. The main roles were sung by the internationally acclaimed Dinara Aliev, Andreas Bauer Kanabas, Franco Vasallo, and Luc Robert, whose voices fill the leading opera houses around the world. They were joined by the brilliant Latvian soloists Ilona Bagele, Raimonds Bramanis, and Rihards Mačanovskis, as well as the Latvian National Opera choir. The director of the concert performance was Dace Volfarte, scenographer Andris Freibergs, and director of the video recording Edmunds Mickus.

 

LA RONDINE | Recording of a concert performance

Concert performance of the Giacomo Puccini’s opera LA RONDINE. Recording of 07.12.2018.

Recording will be available online from 19 until 31 March 2021

 

Giacomo Puccini’s “La Rondine” (Swallow), with libretto by Giuseppe Adami, is a bittersweet story about the Parisian courtesan Magda, the metaphorical swallow, a short-lived landing in the world of true love and romance, only to return to the old “nest” as the mistress of a rich banker. Commissioned by Carltheater of Vienna, the opera was completed in 1916 and saw its premiere in Monte Carlo a year later. 

In the Latvian National Opera concert performance of December 7, 2018, Magda’s role, which is a serious challenge to the soprano voice, was interpreted by Dinara Aliev.  The part of Magda’s lover Ruggero was sung by the brilliant young American tenor John Irvin. The role of the poet Prunier was sung by Pavel Petrov, the Belarusian tenor who is a soloist at the Graz Opera. The other roles were interpreted by soloists of the Latvian National Opera Inga Šļubovska-Kancēviča, Krišjānis Norvelis, Marlēna Keine, Jūlija Vasiļjeva, Laura Grecka, and others. Jānis Liepiņš was the conductor and Dace Volfarte directed the concert performance, scenography was by Andris Freibergs, and Juris Sējāns was the director of the video recording.

 
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