The festival “The LNSO Summer Cottage 2022” will open with Steve Reich’s “The Desert Music”
11.08.2022 - 17:03
The opening concert of the festival “LNSO Summer Camp” by Latvian National Symphony Orchestra (LNSO) will take place on 19 August at 8:00 p.m. in the Concert Hall “Latvija”. The music of Santa Ratniece, Luciano Berio, György Ligeti, and Steve Reich will be performed by oboist Egils Upatnieks, pianist Rihards Plešanovs, Latvian Radio Choir singers, the LNSO, and conductor Guntis Kuzma.
During this rich concert programme, the audience will be able to explore different modern music stylings. The highlight of the event - Steve Reich's "The Desert Music" for voices and orchestra. This impressive composition is recognized as one of the most powerful works of American ostinato minimalism and has become an icon of this music style.
First performed in 1984, "The Desert Music", with poetic motifs by William Carlos Williams, places light as its main theme, embodying creativity, imagination, and love. The opposing symbol is the bomb, which reflects not only the atomic threat of the time but also the general trend toward the annihilation of humanity. Williams in his poetry refers to the orchestra as a metaphor for civilization and calls its destructive tendencies "wrong notes". In terms of music, it is also one of the Reich's most dissonant scores.
First performed in 1984, "The Desert Music", with poetic motifs by William Carlos Williams, places light as its main theme, embodying creativity, imagination, and love. The opposing symbol is the bomb, which reflects not only the atomic threat of the time but also the general trend toward the annihilation of humanity. Williams in his poetry refers to the orchestra as a metaphor for civilization and calls its destructive tendencies "wrong notes". In terms of music, it is also one of the Reich's most dissonant scores.
Santa Ratniece's internationally acclaimed work Muqarnas will lead the audience into an Eastern atmosphere, touching the fragile and magnificent forms of Arabic and Persian architecture 'muqarnas' and turning them into an audial artwork. Ratniece is considered by many to be one of the most outstanding composers of the Baltic States. The composer first came into the limelight in 2004, as her composition Sens nacre was awarded 1st prize in the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers Young Composers category.
The Sequenza VII for oboe composed by the Italian intellectual and great connoisseur of life Luciano Berio in 1969 will allow the audience to enjoy the virtuosity and musicality of Latvia's leading oboist Egils Upatnieks. In the composer's own words, to perform this work, one must "not only possess technical skills but also be a virtuoso in terms of intellect".
The Sequenza VII for oboe composed by the Italian intellectual and great connoisseur of life Luciano Berio in 1969 will allow the audience to enjoy the virtuosity and musicality of Latvia's leading oboist Egils Upatnieks. In the composer's own words, to perform this work, one must "not only possess technical skills but also be a virtuoso in terms of intellect".
The piano études by the Hungarian composer György Ligeti will surprise you with the most incredible interaction between different rhythms. Ligeti is one of the most noteworthy modernists from the second half of the 20th century.
Egils Upatnieks has been concertmaster of the LNSO Oboe Department since 2009 and a winner and laureate of international competitions. As of 2009, he forms part of the Denmark-based woodwind quintet Carion. This chamber ensemble has gained international awe for interpreting possibly the most difficult opuses of contemporary music, and for regularly performing them by heart with theatrical expressions, at that. Carion regularly performs in Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, Latin Amerika, etc.
Egils Upatnieks has been concertmaster of the LNSO Oboe Department since 2009 and a winner and laureate of international competitions. As of 2009, he forms part of the Denmark-based woodwind quintet Carion. This chamber ensemble has gained international awe for interpreting possibly the most difficult opuses of contemporary music, and for regularly performing them by heart with theatrical expressions, at that. Carion regularly performs in Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, Latin Amerika, etc.
The pianist Rihards Plešanovs gives solo concerts in Switzerland, Italy, France, the Netherlands, etc. He also performs together with Kremerata Baltica, Sinfonietta Riga, the Liepaja SO and the LNSO, and collaborates with the Latvian Radio choir. He has premiered new works by many Latvian composers. Furthermore, he forms part of the piano quartet Quadra and the ensemble Arcandela.
Guntis Kuzma will retire from his post as conductor of the LNSO in autumn 2022 (he has held this post since 2014). From the beginning of the next season, he will be the artistic director and chief conductor of the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra. Programmes by Guntis Kuzma have received high praise on several occasions. Kuzma's and the LNSO recordings of symphonic music by Tālivalds Ķeniņš and Jānis Ivanovs in collaboration with the record companies Ondine and SKANI have received international acclaim. He won the Grand Music Award of Latvia for outstanding interpretation in 2018 as a solo clarinet player and conductor.
Guntis Kuzma will retire from his post as conductor of the LNSO in autumn 2022 (he has held this post since 2014). From the beginning of the next season, he will be the artistic director and chief conductor of the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra. Programmes by Guntis Kuzma have received high praise on several occasions. Kuzma's and the LNSO recordings of symphonic music by Tālivalds Ķeniņš and Jānis Ivanovs in collaboration with the record companies Ondine and SKANI have received international acclaim. He won the Grand Music Award of Latvia for outstanding interpretation in 2018 as a solo clarinet player and conductor.
