From 21 September to 1 October the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra will go on a concert tour of Latvia. The orchestra will travel to Jelgava, Auce, Limbaži, Madona and Daugavpils together with clarinettist Anna Gāgane.
The Liepāja Symphony Orchestra will tour Latvia with five concerts from 21 September to 1 October. The orchestra and its artistic director Guntis Kuzma, together with clarinettist Anna Gāgane, will take a programme of Viennese classics to Jelgava, Auce, Limbaži, Madona and Daugavpils.
The Liepāja Symphony Orchestra has included three Viennese classics in its Latvian concert tour programme: the Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the Third Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven and Joseph Haydn’s Overture in Re-major.
Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto was written for his friend Anton Stadler, who was once the most talented clarinettist in Vienna. The Clarinet Concerto combines gentle lyrical passages with demanding virtuosity and is considered the first major work written for this relatively new instrument, invented in the early 18th century.
Interestingly, the soloist in this concert will be clarinettist Anna Gāgane, who studied at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music with conductor and clarinettist Guntis Kuzma, who in turn will be seen at the conductor’s podium.
Gāgane has been successful in international competitions and was awarded the 2018 Great Music Prize in the Young Musician of the Year category. As a soloist she has performed with the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra and the Sinfonietta Riga Chamber Orchestra. Anna also performs with Trio Carmine and Trio Fabel, premieres works by young composers and regularly appears as a chamber musician and soloist in Latvia, Germany, Switzerland and elsewhere.
Anna Gāgane is currently the Deputy Concertmaster of the clarinet section of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, but her first orchestral experience was with the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, about which Anna says: “It was my first orchestra, and it was in this ensemble that I fell in love with playing in a symphony orchestra; I felt how great it is to be part of a large, strong ensemble, creating unforgettable and magical musical moments together.”
Anna has also played with Sinfonietta Riga, the Lübeck Philharmonic Orchestra, the Estonian Festival Orchestra, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra, the Argovia Philharmonic, Collegium Winterthur and the Bern Symphony Orchestra. Her experience in orchestras has given her the opportunity to play with many internationally renowned conductors, including Néme Jervi, Pavlo Jervi, Mario Venzago, Simona Young and others.
While studying at the Basel University of Music, Anna was a Swiss Government Excellence Scholar. Prior to that, she also studied at the Lübeck University of Music with Sabine Meijer and Rainer Wehle.
Beethoven’s Third Symphony is one of his most famous works. In it, the composer dared to transcend genre, marking the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras. Beethoven’s Third or “Heroic” Symphony was originally dedicated to Napoleon and later to human heroism in general. It is considered the first true symphony of the Romantic period.
Haydn’s Overture in Re-major consists of one movement at a fast tempo. The music is lively and energetic and reflects Haydn’s mastery of form and expressiveness; later Haydn used it as the finale of his Symphony No 53.
Stops of the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra’s Latvian tour “Viennese Classic”:
21 September at 19.00 at Jelgava Culture House,
22 September at 19.00 at the Auce City Culture House,
29 September at 19.00 at the Limbaži Culture House,
30 September at 15.00 at Madona City Culture House,
1 October at 16.00 at Daugavpils Vienības nams.
The Liepāja Symphony Orchestra will open its 143rd concert season on 16 September at 18.00, when, under the direction of Artistic Director Guntis Kuzma, the Liepāja Concert Hall “Lielais dzintars” will host one of the most brilliant musicians in the world of piano – Czech pianist Lukáš Vondraček. The concert programme will include music by Sergei Rachmaninov, Vitold Lutoslavsky and Agras Engelmanis.
Tickets for the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra concerts can be purchased at “Biļešu paradīze” ticket offices.
The Concert Tour is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia
