Eiropas Ziemassvētki. Artūra Maskata jubilejas koncerts

PROGRAMMA
Music by Arturs Maskats (1957)

DALĪBNIEKI
Ksenija Sidorova, accordion
Guna Šnē, cello
Kristīne Gailīte, soprano
Ivo Krūskops, percussions
Piano Quartet RIX:
Sandis Šteinbergs, violin
Ilze Kļava, viola
Reinis Birznieks, cello
Jānis Maļeckis, piano
Latvian Radio Choir
Orchestra Sinfonietta Rīga
Conductors Sigvards Kļava and Normunds Šnē

Arturs Maskats is a Latvian composer who has the muse of theatre in his heart, and he will be celebrating his 60th birthday with a two-part concert at the Great Guild. Joining him will be his loyal performer and friends, and over the course of the evening we shall hear music that has left vivid and important impressions in Maskats' creative life.

The first part of the concert will feature Concerto Grosso, which has been seldom heard in Latvia in recent years, but is well known all around the world, not least because it has become part of three very different ballets in Latvia, Japan and South Africa. We will also hear Maskats' version of Midnight in Rīga, which relates to Woody Allen's comedy Midnight in Paris, transferring the film's content to Rīga in the 1930s, when it was known as Little Paris. This will be the premiere of a new version of the opus for accordion (Ksenija Sidorova-Arizaga), cello (Guna Šnē), vibraphone (Ivo Krūskops) and string orchestra.

The second half of the concert will be devoted to vocal and instrumental music. There will be songs based on poems by Umberto Saba and Konstantinos Kavafis from the passionate and legendary Lines of Venice, as performed by Kristīne Gailīte and the RIX piano quartet. There will also be a suite featuring a series of opuses based on poetry by Ojārs Vācietis and Imants Ziedonis, as combined by one of Arturs Maskats' closest colleagues "from back when we were young," the Latvian Radio Choir and conduct Sigvards Kļava.