In the first part of the magnificent concert the spectators will be able to enjoy fragments from the best ballet performances by the principal dancers and ballet artists of the Latvian National Ballet company, continuing with the program devoted to the opera genre.

To honor the solemn event we will welcome to our stage world-renown opera stars from around the world that, before receiving world-wide recognition, have once begun their careers at the Latvian National Opera: Kristine Opolais, Aleksandrs Antonenko, Inga Kalna, Inese Galante, and Egils Silins.

The soloists, orchestra and chorus of the LNO conducted by Modestas Pitrenas, Martins Ozolins, and Farhads Stade will also participate at the concert.

Tickets for the 150th anniversary concerts of the LNO house can be purchased at the LNO box office (Aspazijas blvd. 3, Riga, Latvia), online, as well as in all Biļešu Paradīze trade spots in the entire territory of Latvia. Ticket prices: LVL 20 - 100 (September 5), LVL 8 - 60 (September 6).

The new building of Riga German Theatre (later – Latvian National Opera) was opened in 1863 according to the design by architect Ludwig Bohnstedt from St.Petersburg, erected near the city's canal, on the grounds of the former bastion of the city's fortifications. Although, through years various companies have performed at the LNO, the colour of the exterior and ruling powers have changed, the building in the heart of Riga has always remained both a remarkable architectural landmark as well as the epicenter of the cultural life of the city.

Georg Friedrich Handel’s Messiah is one of the most majestic and triumphant pieces in the history of music. According to music professionals, this music is filled with cosmic energy and spiritually uniting joy.

It is no wonder this symphonic score has inspired the Argentinean choreographer Mauricio Wainrot to create an unusual dance performance which radiates an abundance of emotions, exhilaration, and energy. The divine music of Handel has incited the choreographer to express his reflections on the role of spirituality in today’s world in the language of contemporary dance. The performance will include the orchestra, the Riga Chamber Choir Ave Sol, and the soloists, conducted by Andris Veismanis.

The Latvian audiences are already familiar with Mauricio Wainrot from his single act ballet Tango Plus. Voyages. The staging of Messiah, with set design and costumes by artist Carlos Gallardo, is one of his most world-acclaimed works, staged with great success by The Chilean National Ballet, The Royal Ballet of Flanders, Belgium, The Bordeaux National Opera Ballet, The Royal Swedish Ballet.

The cast of the new production includes Frederik Zetterström (Wotan), Oliver Zvarg (Alberich), Martina Dike (Fricka), Bengt Ola-Morgny (Mime), Göran Eliasson (Loge), Armands Siliņš (Donner), Andris Ludvigs (Froh), Krišjānis Norvelis (Fafner), Rihards Mačanovskis (Fasolt), Dana Bramane (Freia), Lyubov Sokolova or Ilona Bagele (Erda), Juliana Bawarska (Woglinde), Aira Rūrāne (Wellgunde), Kristīne Zadovska (Flosshilde).

To mark the 200th anniversary of Wagner’s birth, Riga Opera Festival in June will present the complete Der Ring des Nibelungen cycle. However, already in March, the LNO presents the first part of the grand cycle of four epic operas, where the battle for the magic ring, giving enormous power to its wearer, begins.

“The characters in this play about the Ring take every means to obtain power and the right to construct a reality which seems meaningful to them. The gods have never been so committed to humanity and the humans have never been more at the mercy of the gods – ever since the day they fabricated the theatrical arena in which they continually display and invent themselves,” says the stage director of the production Norwegian Stefan Herheim, who has been named “the most brilliant Wagnerian alive” (The Guardian).

Due to technical reasons the ballet by Mauricio Wainrot, the previously announced A Streetcar Named Desire, will be replaced by the staging of Mauricio Wainrot’s ballet Messiah, with music by Georg Friedrich Handel. Performances of Messiah will take place on 27 and 28 April and 8 May.

The tickets purchased will be valid for Messiah performances or can be returned at the LNO box office or Biļešu paradīze box offices nationwide by 20 March. The owners of electronic tickets who do not wish to frequent the staging of Messiah are kindly requested to contact Biļešu paradīze at info@bilesuparadize.lv.

Georg Friedrich Handel’s Messiah is one of the most majestic and triumphant pieces in the history of music. According to music professionals, this music is filled with cosmic energy and spiritually uniting joy.

It is no wonder this symphonic score has inspired the Argentinean choreographer Mauricio Wainrot to create an unusual dance performance which radiates an abundance of emotions, exhilaration, and energy. The divine music of Handel has incited the choreographer to express his reflections on the role of spirituality in today’s world in the language of contemporary dance. The performance will include the orchestra, the choir, and the soloists, conducted by Andris Veismanis.

The Latvian audiences are already familiar with Mauricio Wainrot from his single act ballet Tango Plus. Voyages. The staging of Messiah, with set design and costumes by artist Carlos Gallardo, is one of his most world-acclaimed works, staged with great success by The Chilean National Ballet, The Royal Ballet of Flanders, Belgium, The Bordeaux National Opera Ballet, The Royal Swedish Ballet.

The Latvian National Opera apologizes for any inconveniences caused!

The LNO’s new production combines two one-act ballets, created by internationally recognized choreographers. The classic story of Carmen is clothed in contemporary and expressive choreography by Polish choreographer Krzysztof Pastor. 5 tangos is one of the most beautiful ballets of the Netherlands's living legend Hans van Manen. The world famous ballerina Ulyana Lopatkina stars in the premieres.

Krzystof Pastor about Carmen: “My interpretation of the Carmen story is based on the novel Carmen by Prosper Mérimée as well as on Bizet’s opera with the same title. In my ballet I decided to concentrate on the most essential points of this story: love, passion, jealousy, and the destiny which is so important to Carmen’s beliefs. Both Carmen and Don Jose know their destiny, they know that the doomed passion will bring them to a tragic end and yet they go further and deeper towards the unhappy, moving finale. In my version of Carmen Destiny and the Toreador are performed by the same person because the last drop which overflows the cup of Don Jose’s jealousy and guids him to killing of Carmen is her fatal attraction to the Toreador, which thus become their destiny.”

Hans van Manen about 5 tangos: „People said at the time – the critics, of course – that what I had done in 5 tangos wasn't „real tango”. But that was never my intention. I had made a ballet to Piazzolla's music, so it had the mood of tango but I had put the girls in pointe-shoes. Because nothing can spin faster than a dancer on pointe. Even the women who dance tango in Argentina, or on-stage in very high heels, can't quite match that quick, precise quality. And of course, like very high heels, pointe-shoes make the legs look really long, elegant, glamourous. And without eroticism, everything would be boring. In my ballets, the dancers always look at each other. They connect. I'm very bad at telling stories, that's why I never make full-length ballets. But the moment you deal with people you have a drama, and tango is full of it.”

Ms. Opolais lived up to expectations in “La Rondine.” A lovely woman and an affectingly natural actress, she has a plush voice with a throbbing richness that lends a touch of poignancy to every phrase she sings, even when she’s being coquettish. It took some courage to make her Met debut in a role she was singing for the first time. She was tentative at first, though it is hard to start off strongly given the way Puccini introduces this character.

The New York Times. Read more

A wayward bouquet conked Kristine Opolais on her noggin during the ovation Friday night in “La Rondine” — but that was the only mishap in the Latvian soprano’s spectacular Met debut. Her coolly glamorous voice rose to the many challenges of the role of Magda, a Parisian courtesan who tries to live out a fantasy of finding true love in Puccini’s 1917 opera. Opolais floated shimmering high piano notes in her pensive first act aria, the “Canzone di Doretta.” Later, full-voiced B’s and C’s sailed into the huge Met auditorium. Lower down, the sound wasn’t as sumptuous, but she mustered gutsy chest tones for her dramatic farewell in the last act.

The New York Post. Read more

Yet despite the work’s slightness, Ms. Opolais seemed to live within it, growing in stature as the evening went on and radiating the kind of aura—one that demands that you watch her, and sympathize with her—that defines a star. (...)It was Ms. Opolais’s evening. At the end of the opera, having left her lover, she is bathed in a spotlight, arms outstretched and face stricken. There is little room for extremity in this opera, which remains stubbornly tasteful and small in scope, but Ms. Opolais found it. Like any good operatic performance, she had become specific and mythical: the very embodiment of isolation and pain. She is a performer with a tremendous future ahead of her; New York will be lucky to have her.

The New York Observer. Read more

At just 33-years of age, Opolais is a fully mature artist who possesses a magnificent instrument and commands the stage elegantly. Her sound is dark, heavy, but potent and full of lush colors.

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Latinospost.com. Read more

To mark the 200^th anniversary of Wagner’s birth, at the Riga Opera Festival 2013 we will present the complete Der Ring des Nibelungen cycle. Richard Wagner was the music director of the opera theatre in Riga, and the new Riga-Ring puts LNO back on the map as one of the leading houses of Wagner. The first part of the cycle, Das Rheingold, was created by Norwegian director Stefan Herheim, who has been named “the most brilliant Wagnerian alive” (The Guardian). The next three productions of the tetralogywere staged by Viestur Kairish, one of the greatest Latvian opera, theatre and cinema directors.

The Festival will also feature the best productions of this season. Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor is staged by the LNO General Director Andrejs Žagars, who has been internationally praised as one of the most interesting talents among today's stage directors. The highlights of the festival will also include Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca, staged by highly acclaimed Russian director Dmitry Bertman, as well as the young Latvian composer Andris Dzenītis’ opera Dauka. To mark the anniversary of Giuseppe Verdi, we will present Verdi’s Gala Concert with spectacular soloists.

To open the world of sounds and to reveal the magical spheres of music to young listeners – that was the intent of the great English composer Benjamin Britten. Let’s Play an Opera! The Little Sweep consists of two parts. The first part is dedicated to the preparation of the opera. The second part and the realisation of the production, The Little Sweep, is the story of little Sam, who is bullied by the brutal old chimney sweep Black Bob and his silly son Clem. Of course, it is the children who defeat all fear and anger with their wit and skill and help Sam break free. The Little Sweep is probably Benjamin Britten’s most-performed opera.

One of the most important pages of Latvian opera history was the time Richard Wagner spent in Riga – the composer served as music director from 1837 to 1939. Since 2006, in honor of this remarkable composer, the central axis of the LNO artistic program has been a production of the tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung).

Der Ring des Nibelungen is considered by many to be the most outstanding and complex works of art ever created. It took 26 years to complete the epic four-part-cycle. For the LNO, it is no less than the project of the century – it is by far the most demanding project the LNO has ever faced. The new Riga-Ring continues LNO's rich Wagner traditions and puts Riga back on the map as one of the leading houses of Wagner.

Stage director Stefan Herheim and conductor Andris Nelsons created Das Rheingold (The Rhine Gold) in 2006. After its highly acclaimed start, the next three productions of the tetralogy were staged by Viestur Kairish. He received international acclaim for his interpretation of Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), created together with artist Ilmārs Blumbergs and conductor Andris Nelsons in 2007. In 2008, the successful creative tandem Viestur Kairish and designer Ieva Jurjāne worked with conductor Cornelius Meister in the LNO's production of Siegfried. It was a national and international triumph. The successful cooperation continued with the production of Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods) in 2011.

Tickets may be booked by phone: (+371) 67073705 or e-mail: boxoffice@opera.lv