The premiere of the concert program featuring renowned Riga musicians is accompanied by excitement – additional concert dates have already been announced.
February in Riga is a time of muted colors and a special northern restraint. It is at this moment that the city's music scene offers an unexpected change of mood. The new concert program “Bolero” transports listeners to a space of southern character – where rhythm becomes movement and sound acquires an almost tangible warmth.
Spain in the history of European music has always been more than just a geography. It is rather an image, a state, an aesthetic. Composers from different eras have turned to this imagined south, finding in it the energy, sensuality, and freedom of musical gesture. This tradition, which began in European classical music, continued its development in the music of the 20th century, where rhythms and timbres gained new expressiveness.
The program features works that have become symbols of passion and movement: the hypnotic Bolero by Maurice Ravel, excerpts from “Carmen” by Georges Bizet, the lyrical Adagio from the “Concierto de Aranjuez,” the exquisite Café 1930 by Astor Piazzolla, and the expressive Danzón No. 2. Music that feels the breath of the south – bright, pulsating, alive.
The project is presented by okoncert.lv – a company known for its special attention to the aesthetics of concert space. Here, music always exists in dialogue with light, architecture, and atmosphere: candlelight, historical interiors, visual projections creating a multilayered environment of perception.
Performing are leading Latvian musicians: Ilona Birgele (organ), Ilze Kirsanova (violin), Irina Vylegzhanina (cello), Ekaterina Suvorova (harp), and Virginia Laube-Vitina (percussion). The unusual instrumental composition gives the program a special timbral expressiveness and modern sound. The meeting place will be St. Paul's Church – a space where neo-Gothic architecture, soft light, and acoustics create a rare sense of the integrity of sound and space.
For several February evenings, Riga changes its mood – through rhythm, sound, and southern temperament.
