During the celebration of Latvia's 108th birthday, on November 17 at 7:00 PM in the "Lielais dzintars" concert hall, the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor Jānis Liepiņš, will meet with the State Academic Choir "Latvija", the male vocal group "Auxilium", singers Katrīna Paula Felsberga and Ilze Grēvele-Skaraine, as well as organist Aigars Reinis, to play together a concert that would give us the necessary dose of light and hope during this dark autumn time.
In the center of this personal and emotionally charged concert program lies Zigmars Liepiņš’s monumental “Mesa 2020,” which, in the first half of the concert, will be complemented by one of the most beautiful, romantic, and significant symphonies in Latvian music — Jāzeps Mediņš’s Second Symphony, “Ziedonī” (“In the Spring”).
The central message of Zigmars Liepiņš’ Mesa 2020 is: grant us peace. It was composed in the spring of 2020, when many of us were living in profound uncertainty, confusion and even fear of death. Who could have foreseen that, in same the year as ‘Mesa’ was premiered, Russia would invade Ukraine and the world would become so impossibly entangled? Here, we encounter a traditional Mass, presented unconventionally – in Latvian.
The origins of ‘Mesa 2020’ lie in the composer’s and his wife’s desire to affirm their union in church – it emerged from conversations with a priest, born from an inability to compose anything small, but rather a need for something grand to come into being.
This utterly beautiful composition will be performed under the direction of the well-known and audience-beloved conductor Jānis Liepiņš by the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra and the State Academic Choir Latvija, joined by the male vocal ensemble Auxilium.
The crystal-clear message of ‘Mesa’ will be conveyed by two talented soloists of broad artistic range, acclaimed not only in Latvia but across Europe – the 2023 Grand Music Award laureate Katrīna Paula Felsberga, and Ilze Grēvele-Skaraine. The work is equally unimaginable without the full-bodied sound of the organ, performed by the music director and organist of the Rīga Cathedral Aigars Reinis.
A Mass resounding from the outside inward, from the crowd into solitude, and, at the core of everything, a silent plea: grant us peace.
The concert is organised by Concert Hall "Lielais dzintars".
