Inviting everyone to embrace the festive spirit, on December 14 at 18.00, the concert hall “Great Amber” in Liepāja will host a magnificent program of Christmas-themed compositions. Under the baton of conductor Vilhelms Vācietis, works by Pauls Dambis, Richard Wagner, Gustav Mahler, and Arthur Honegger will be performed by Latvia’s most brilliant academic musicians and soloists, including the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, the Latvian State Choir “Latvija,” baritone Rihards Millers, and the Boys' Choir of the Liepāja Secondary School of Music, Art, and Design.
“This program resonates with the phases we all experience during the festive season: from the daily rush between work, home, and the ongoing world’s challenges reflected in Dambis’ vibrant cycle, through moments of peace, simplicity, and introspection brought by Wagner and Mahler, to Honegger’s cantata, which lifts the soul into the carefree atmosphere of a Christmas market. This concert offers a chance to live through this emotional spectrum in one evening,” explains Vilhelms Vācietis.
The concert will also be available to watch free of charge via live stream on the concert hall's website www.lielaisdzintars.lv and its YouTube channel.
The program begins with one of the 20th century’s masterpieces of Latvian music – Pauls Dambis’ Concerto-fantasia on in nomine Albrecht Düreri. With its primitive force and profound spirituality, it reflects on humanity’s destiny. It opens with the arrival of an apocalyptic horseman riding through the black forests of Aizdaugava, followed by a serene women’s choir vocalise embodying the Virgin’s comforting smile. The cycle concludes with a miraculous Virgin in a Crown of Stars.
Warmth and light will be brought by Richard Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll, a romantically beautiful Christmas gift to his wife, Cosima Wagner. This lyrical work intertwines themes from his opera Siegfried with elements of a folk-inspired lullaby.
The pure and profound emotions of Gustav Mahler’s Adagietto from his Fifth Symphony—a love letter to his future wife Alma—will also resonate. This piece is famously tied to Luchino Visconti’s film Death in Venice, based on Thomas Mann’s novella of the same name.
The evening concludes with Arthur Honegger’s Christmas Cantata, marking the journey from darkness to light and universal joy. This final great opus by the Swiss-French genius combines calls for light, popular Christmas carols in multiple languages, and praises for life, greenery, and vitality, creating a sacred masterpiece of Bach-like proportions that touches the hearts of all.
Video: Orests Silabriedis shares insights into the festive concert program: https://youtu.be/qTn1CNsFBmI
The concert “Christmas Cantata. Wagner. Mahler” is organized by SIA “Lielais Dzintars” with the support of the Liepāja Municipality and the State Culture Capital Foundation.
For more information, visit www.lielaisdzintars.lv. Tickets are available at “Biļešu Paradīze” ticket offices across Latvia, online at www.bilesuparadize.lv, and at the concert hall information center.
Contact the concert hall information center for inquiries:
Working hours: Monday to Friday, 11:00–17:00; Saturdays and Sundays, 10:00–15:00. Phone: +371 634 24 555. Email: info@lielaisdzintars.lv
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