On November 7 and 8 at 7:00 p.m., Liepāja Concert Hall “Great Amber” invites audiences to join the culmination of its 10th year anniversary celebrations, where a long-cherished dream will come true – the performance of Arnold Schoenberg’s romantic oratorio Gurre-Lieder. The concert, part of the European Capital of Culture “Liepāja 2027” program, will bring together more than 250 professional musicians – five soloists, a large mixed choir, three male choirs, and a grand orchestra on one stage.
“We are currently spinning in the dirt of the present and the uncertainty of the future, and we need something majestic, monumental, beautiful, and pure. The love between King Waldemar and Tove ends tragically, but the echo of this love transforms into a different kind of matter, a profoundly human attempt to blame providence through cruel suffering turns into a metaphysical sunrise, offering not only consolation but also strength. Arnold Schoenberg, like us, lived through an era of dramatic change. Art does not offer comfort but fortitude. Our hope does not fade, and our conviction is built upon it,” explains Orests Silabriedis, the concert hall’s Artistic Director, about the choice of work for the anniversary celebration.
This rarely performed masterpiece has only been heard twice before in Latvia due to its monumental scale. The work is based on medieval legend about King Waldemar and his beloved Tove, whose beautiful love story meets a tragic end, Driven by jealousy, Queen Helvig orders Tove’s death. In, despair, Waldemar curses God, triggering a supernatural reckoning and his own damnation to wander eternally with a ghostly army. As dawn breaks, the work culminates in a breathtaking, redemptive sunrise for choir and symphony orchestra – the most beautiful one possible.
Modestas Pitrenas is the ideal conductor for this music, which construction demands emotional depth, good understanding and feeling of the human voice, and operatic dramaturgy. Under his direction, the performance will unite the State Academic Choir “Latvija”, the Riga Project Choir, the Estonian National Male Choir, the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra and the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra.
The emotionally powerful message of the love story is entrusted to be delivered to the audience by the darkly beautiful and radiant voice owner Magdalena Anna Hofmann and the American opera singer familiar to the Latvian public, Corby Welch. They will be joined by one of the leading soloists of the Latvian National Opera, Mihails Čuļpajevs, Frankfurt Opera soloist Zanda Švēde, and the bass-baritone Oliver Zwarg, who has achieved significant success in Germany and Latvia.
The concert “Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder. Anniversary Celebration” is organized by SIA “Great Amber” as part of the “Great Masters in Great Amber” project within the “Liepāja 2027” programme. It is supported by the Ministry of Culture, Liepāja City Municipality, and the South Kurzeme and Kuldīga regions. Supporters: State Culture Capital Foundation, Uniting Foundation, Compensa Vienna Insurance Group ADB Latvian Branch, Compensa Life Vienna Insurance Group SE Latvian Branch, Austrian Embassy in Latvia, Latvijas Radio 3, and Café Čello. Tickets are available at all “Biļešu paradīze” outlets across Latvia, online 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, email: info@lielaisdzintars.lv.
Anita Lazdeniece-Grīnberga
SIA “Great Amber”
Public Relations Specialist
Phone.: +371 29817736
Email: anita.lazdeniece@lielaisdzintars.lv
On October 3, the first of two sold-out “Rock and Organ for Liepāja” concerts took place at Liepāja Lutheran Church. The audience enjoyed a unique mix of classical music, world rock classics, and Liepāja rock legends’ greatest hits, with organ sounds blending seamlessly with guitars and vibrant lights.
On September 27, an unforgettable evening honoring the centenary of Pierre Boulez — the 20th-century revolutionary of contemporary music and brilliant composer — took place at the “Great Amber” Concert Hall.