15. July, 2023
The International Early Music Festival is the most charming, elegant and delicate summer event in Latvia. Concerts of the festival take place in churches and concert halls of Riga, as well as in Rundāle Palace - the most outstanding baroque palace in the Baltics.
The festival will bring to life the masterpieces of Henry Purcell, Antonio Vivaldi, Johann Sebastian Bach, Claudio Monteverdi and other baroque greats. The music will be complemented by gorgeous costumes, authentic medieval and baroque instruments and architecture that create a unique sense of presence. A special event in the garden of Rundāle Palace will be a musical show for children "Brīnishkā pērle". Both Latvian and foreign artists will take part in the festival concerts.
On July 15, singers Aija Veismane, Ansis Bētiņš and Emīls Gilučs, as well as harpsichordist Veronika Rinkule, will perform in the concert program "English Baroque Songs" in Mežotne Church. The "William Byrd Consort" is a vocal ensemble playing mainly Renaissance and Baroque music programs. The foundation stone of the ensemble was laid in the 1990s, when it was founded by conductor and countertenor Andris Veismanis, creating concert programs by William Byrd and Carlo Gezualdo.
On July 15, the concert days at Rundāle Palace will begin with events for children - various creative workshops and a musical performance "The Wonderful Pearl" inspired by Spanish folk tales and music by Spanish composers. The musical fairy tale will be full of unusual events and bright characters. The roles will be played by soloists - Jolanta Strikaite-Lapiņa, Jānis Strazdiņš, Nauris Indzeris, dancers - Egija Abarovića, Reinis Rešetins, Aija Lejas-Sausa. Students of the Riga Circus School, musicians of the association "Džezbaroks" and percussionist Mārtiņš Miļevskis will also take part in the concert.
On the evening of July 15, in the garden of Rundāle Palace, the festival will be closed by Antonio Vivaldi's cycle of violin concerts "Seasons" - one of the most popular opus of academic music, which has experienced countless arrangements and interpretations all over the world. In the first part of the concert, we will hear the compositions of Christoph Willibald Gluck, André Campra and Jean-Baptiste Lulli. Together with the State Chamber Orchestra "Sinfonietta Rīga", under the direction of conductor Andras Veismanis, Vivaldi's "Seasons" will be played by the excellent Italian violinist Giuseppe Giboni, who will also be able to meet at Mazaja Mežotne Palace on July 14.
The festival is supported by the State Culture Capital Fund. Tickets can be purchased at "Bilešu paradīze" ticket offices and on the Internet.
The website of the "Ancient Music Festival" www.smf.lv
*Transport Rīga-Rundāle Palace in cooperation with Skaisto skatu aģentūra T. +371 26415127, www.skaistieskati.lv