On October 26, at 18:00, the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra will play music composed by Johannes Brahms, Richard Wagner and Anton Bruckner in the “Lielais dzintars” Concert Hall under the direction of the conductor Andris Poga. The special guest of the concert will be the Finnish opera singer Miina-Liisa Värelä.
“Miina-Liisa Värelä is currently one of the most promising dramatic sopranos regularly appearing on opera stages that are getting even larger and larger,” wrote the German media “Opernmagazin” in March 2022. “Her beautiful voice, especially pronounced in the high notes, rises to an unparalleled volume and depth.”
In Liepāja, Miina-Liisa Värelä in cooperation with the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra will perform Richard Wagner's Wesendonck Songs, which are considered one of Wagner's most significant vocal works and are loved both among singers and listeners.
In this programme the place at the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra conductor's desk will be taken by Andris Poga, with whom Ms.Värelä has collaborated before, performing the first part of Wagner's opera “The Valkyrie” together with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra in Stavanger in 2022.
The Finnish soprano has received undivided praise from critics and audiences in many performances, such as the role of Isolde in Wagner's monumental opera Tristan und Isolde with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and the role of the painter in Lydia Steier's latest staging of Richard Strauss's opera The Woman Without a Shadow, which was performed in the famous Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden with the Berlin Philharmonic directed by Kiril Petrenko.
In 2021, Ms.Värelä also sang the role of Isolde at the BBC Proms festival in London's Royal Albert Hall, which was broadcast live by BBC Radio 3 back then.
According to the critics, she “fascinates with her lyrical timbre and dramatic perfection”.
The concert programme will be complemented by The Tragic Overture by Johannes Brahms, created in a style that is dramatic and full of excitement.
At the concert the audience will also be able to hear the rarely performed symphony “Die Nullte” by the Austrian composer Anton Bruckner. It is an autumn-colored masterpiece that takes the listener to the world of real illusions. Bruckner's symphonies are referred to as the symbol of the last stage of romantic music because of their majestic lines and gorgeous harmonies.
Tickets for the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra concerts can be purchased at “Biļešu paradīze” ticket offices.
The Concert is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia, the State Cultural Capital Foundation and Liepāja City.
