The Liepāja Great Amber Concert Hall is one of the most suitable places for performing vocal symphonic masterpieces, and one of our long-held dreams is an ambitious project like Arnold Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder with over 250 professional musicians performing on stage, including six soloists, a large mixed choir, three men’s choirs, and a grand orchestra. This will be a truly magnificent culmination of the 10th anniversary celebration of the Concert Hall.
The opus is rarely performed, but it is one of the most monumental love stories of the late Romantic era that, due to its colossal scale, has only been heard in Latvia twice. The composition is based on a medieval legend of the precious love of King Valdemar for his mistress Tove, which comes to a tragic end. Queen Helvig, mad with jealousy, has Tove killed. A desperate Valdemar curses God, causing supernatural repercussions, as he himself becomes doomed to roam with a ghost army. Upon dawn, the oratorio is crowned by a breathtaking and redeeming sunrise by a choir and symphony orchestra – as strikingly beautiful as one can imagine.
The Concert Hall wishes to celebrate its tenth anniversary with an appreciation for love, as we sometimes lack real human connection in the current era of urgency, intolerance, and ignorance. The Gurre-Lieder is a powerful, touching message about what profound art and passionate feelings can achieve.
Modestas Pitrėnas is the perfect conductor for this music that requires emotional immersion, a good understanding and sense of the human voice, and the construction of an operatic dramaturgy. On the stage of the Great Hall, he will unite the State Academic Choir Latvija, the Rīga Project Choir, the Estonian National Male Choir, the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, and the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra.
The emotionally powerful message of the story has been entrusted to Magdalena Anna Hofmann, owner of a deep and brilliant voice, and American opera singer Corby Welch, already beloved by the Latvian audience. They will be joined by one of the leading soloists of the Latvian National Opera, Mihail Chulpaev, soloist of the Frankfurt Opera Zanda Švēde, and the famous bass-baritone Oliver Zwarg, who has enjoyed considerable success in Germany and in Latvia.
Tove – Magdalena Anna Hofmann
Wood Dove – Zanda Švēde
Waldemar – Corby Welch
Nerr Klauss– Mihail Chulpaev
Peasant and Storyteller – Oliver Zwarg
State Academic Choir Latvija
Rīga Project Choir
Estonian National Male Choir
Liepāja Symphony Orchestra
Latvian National Symphony Orchestra
Conductor Modestas Pitrėnas
Duration: concert in two parts, approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes
Suggested age of attendees: 7+
The concert “Gurre-Lieder by Arnold Schoenberg. Anniversary Celebration” is organized by SIA “Great Amber”.
It is implemented within the framework of the “Greats at the Great Amber” project of the “Liepāja 2027” programme, with funding provided by the Ministry of Culture, the City of Liepāja, and the South Kurzeme and Kuldīga municipalities.
Supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation, the “Uniting” Foundation, “Compensa Vienna Insurance Group” ADB Latvian Branch, the Austrian Embassy in Latvia, and the café “Čello”.
