On September 27 at 18:00 audiences at Liepāja Concert Hall “Great Amber” will have the chance to experience a concert program to Latvia, which is dedicated to the centenary of the 20th-century revolutionary of contemporary music and brilliant composer Pierre Boulez.
The concert is part of the European Capital of Culture “Liepāja 2027” program and has been created in collaboration with the prestigious Paris-based Pompidou Centre’s Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music (IRCAM), as well as Latvian and international music professionals.
Pierre Boulez shook traditions and, together with like-minded peers, introduced new ways of sonic thinking. A dazzling creator, a selfless dictator, possibly/perhaps a genius. As a composer, conductor, and a thinker, Boulez opened the doors to sonorous, electrical music and founded IRCAM (Paris), which has become one of the worlds leading music research institutions.
For Liepāja Concert Hall “Great Amber”, it is a great honour to collaborate with IRCAM in producing this concert, which will be both a tribute the IRCAM founder’s centenary and an opportunity for audiences in Latvia to experience several of Boulez’s most complex, significant, and in a way also most beautiful masterpieces, where classical music instruments meet electronics.
In the first part of the concert, internationally acclaimed Latvian violinist Madgalēna Geka will perform Pierre Boulez composition for violin Anthèmes II (1997). In this work, a constant transformation and sensitive dialogue unfold between human and technology. The violin intertwines with live electronics, which in real time transforms and reflects the instrument’s sound into a spatially multidimensional landscape.
The program will culminate with one of Boulez’s most impressive and beautiful works Répons (1980–1984), in which a wide range of IRCAM’s “weapons” are used – electronic instruments, sound synthesis, and computer programs that allow electronic manipulation of sound during the performance. This piece is truly thrilling to listen to – how acoustics and electronic sound fronts alternate, how solo parts interact, how harmonies shine and overlap.
This performance of this extraordinary complex work has been entrusted to the chamber orchestra Sinfonietta Rīga under the direction of conductor Normunds Šnē, along with an international team of soloists and sound masters – harpist Lucie Spedicato, pianists Sanita Glazenburga and Robert Fleitz, cimbalom virtuoso Françoise Rivalland, percussionists Elvijs Endelis and Guntars Freibergs.
The performance requires a special spatial arrangement and sound equipment, which will be provided by IRCAM specialists Pierre Carré (electronics) and Sylvain Cadars (sound diffusion). The most impressive listening experience will be in the parterre seating area, where the audience will be surrounded by both musicians and sound equipment.
Before the concert, at 17:00, visitors are invited to attend an educational pre-concert talk on the topic An Insight into Boulez’s Personality and Music, which will take place in the concert hall’s art space Civita Nova. The discussion will be held in Latvian and English and will feature IRCAM director Frank Madlener, IRCAM lecturer and computer music designer Grégoire Lorieux, composer and Latvian Composers’ Union project manager Rolands Kronlaks. Moderator: Orests Silabriedis.
The concert Pierre Boulez 100. Sinfonietta Rīga is organised by SIA Great Amber.
It is implemented as a part of Liepāja Art Forum project of the Liepāja 2027 program, with funding provided by the Ministry of Culture, the Liepāja municipality, and the municipalities of South Kurzeme and Kuldīga.
Supported by: State Culture Capital Foundation. Special thanks to Stena Line for assisting with the transportation of the cimbalom to Liepāja.
Tickets are available at all “Bilešu paradīze” box offices across Latvia, at www.bilesuparadize.lv, and at the concert hall information centre.
For inquiries, please contact the concert hall information centre. Opening hours: Monday–Friday: 11:00–17:00, Saturday–Sunday: 10:00–15:00.
Phone: +371 634 24 555, e-mail: info@lielaisdzintars.lv
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