Featuring:
Elza Siliņa (violin)
Liepāja Symphony Orchestra
Conductor Guntis Kuzma
Programme:
Selga Mence | Overture “Orion” (world premiere)
Felix Mendelssohn | Violin Concerto
Jean Sibelius | Symphony No. 2
The Liepāja Symphony Orchestra offers a multi-layered and emotionally rich program on its Latvian concert tour, in which contemporary Latvian music meets the peaks of world symphonic classics.
Liepāja Symphony Orchestra Latvian tour concerts will be held on:
September 26 at 17.00 – Ventspils Concert Hall “Latvija”;
October 1 at 18.00 – Lielvārde City Culture House;
October 2 at 18.00 – Daugavpils Unity House;
October 3 at 18.00 – Tukums City Culture House.
Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto is one of the most important and frequently performed violin concertos of the Romantic era. Composed between 1838 and 1844, it occupies a stable and central place in the violinist's repertoire.
Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto combines technical mastery with exquisite musicianship, avoiding ostentatiousness and focusing on the natural, singing sound of the violin. It is precisely because of this balance that the piece has retained its relevance and unique appeal for almost two centuries.
Elza Siliņa is one of the brightest young generation Latvian violinists, whose musicality, natural stage presence, and maturity of interpretation attract the attention of both listeners and professionals.
Elza Siliņa began her musical journey at Jāzeps Mediņš Riga 1st Music School with Elizabete Beāte Goļikova. Later, she continued her studies with teacher Antti Petteri Kortelainen, while actively performing both in Latvia and abroad.
Elza Siliņa is a laureate of several international competitions. In 2024, she became the laureate of the Valdis Vikmanis Latvian Young Artist Competition, which gave her the opportunity to perform together with the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra at the Liepāja International Stars Festival concert. In the same year, she proved herself brilliantly at the Liepāja Symphony New Year's concert, teaming up in a duet with the world-famous accordionist Ksenija Sidorova.
Elza Siliņa's playing is characterized by a clear, singing violin tone, musical intelligence, and convincing technical freedom, which allows her to feel equally organic in both solo programs and large-scale concert works with an orchestra.
A major highlight of the concert tour will be the premiere of Selga Mence's overture "Orions", which will take the audience into the sparkling world of the sky. The symphony orchestra will play both sad and joyful songs of the stars.
“Orion is one of the most recognizable and, in my opinion, most beautiful winter constellations. It captivates us in the night sky, and we often use it as a reference point when looking for other stars,” says the composer.
Selga Mence is one of the most significant contemporary Latvian composers, whose creative legacy is particularly closely linked to the development of Latvian choral music, national identity, and the renewal of melodic thinking in contemporary sound recording. Born in Liepāja, the composer has also worked as a teacher for a long time, shaping several generations of young Latvian composers and leaving a significant impact on the Latvian musical cultural landscape.
The concert program will be complemented by Jean Sibelius' Second Symphony – a dramatically ambitious work that is often perceived as a musical embodiment of Nordic nature and the power of the human spirit, and it vividly demonstrates the Finnish composer's individual symphonic language.
Although the composer himself denied any specific programmatic or political intention, the symphony is often associated with ideas of national self-awareness and freedom, but its monumental conclusion still evokes a strong and uplifting emotional resonance in listeners.
The Concert is organised by Tukums City Culture House.
