LNOB receives donation worth more than USD 1.3 million

RIGA - The Latvian National Opera and Ballet (LNOB) has received a donation of USD 1.3 million, or about EUR 1.12 million, from the estate of Professor Anita Rozlapa, LNOB spokeswoman Irbe Treile said.

Rozlapa's Revocable Trust in the US this week transferred to the LNOB the remaining USD 700,000, or around EUR 600,000, of her donation, in addition to the already donated USD 600,000, or around EUR 515,000, as well as paintings created by Latvian set designer Peteris Rozlapa during his years emigration. The total donation amounts to USD 1.3 million, the largest donation the LNOB has ever received.

Sandis Voldins, Chairman of the LNOB Board, said that thanks to the Rozlapa family donation, several projects have already been launched in the past year, including the young vocalists program Elina Garanca. Young Baltic Voices, where four young singers from the Baltic States will start their training this autumn. Visitors to the LNOB will also soon have the opportunity to see part of the collection of paintings by Peteris Rozlapa.

Last fall, in fulfillment of the family's last wish, the LNOB buried the ashes of the Rozlapa family in Sarkandaugava Cemetery in Riga and erected a monument by sculptor Bruno Strautins at the family gravesite.

Peteris Rozlapa started working at the Latvian National Opera in 1925, and in 1935 he became the opera's chief stage designer, creating sets and costumes for a number of opera and ballet productions. In 1944, he and his family emigrated to the US.

The administrator of the estate, Aaron McCrea, contacted the LNOB in the summer of 2024 to inform the LNOB about Anita Rozlapa's wish that her father's artistic legacy should return to Latvia.