Maestro Magi to conduct ‘Elijah’

Riga becomes Europe’s Capital of Culture next year, with hundreds of special events taking place. And looking not so far ahead, there is lots to do around events connected with the pre-Culture Capital festivities.

RIGA - One upcoming concert will be by the Vanemuine Symphony Orchestra, in Riga Dome Cathedral.
Vanemuine Symphony Orchestra, with acknowledged soloists from Latvia, Lithuania, Germany and Estonia, the Vanemuine Opera Choir and the Tartu Youth Choir will perform Felix Mendelssohn’s oratorio ‘Elijah,’ conducted by maestro Paul Magi, at Riga Dome Cathedral on Sept. 14. It will be the opening concert of the 2013/2014 season for the Vanemuine Symphony Orchestra – and the first to be held outside of Estonia.

Magi, who will be the music director and principal conductor of the Vanemuine Theater for the third consecutive season, is also known to music lovers in Latvia. From 1990-1994 he was the main conductor and artistic director of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra and the Professor of Orchestral Conducting at the Latvian Academy of Music. Under him, the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra performed in well-known concert halls in Western Europe. Magi has also received the Latvian national cultural award.

The soloists at the opening concert include internationally acknowledged singers Krisjanis Norvelis (bass, Latvian National Opera), Liisi Kasenomm (soprano, Germany), Jovita Vaskeviciute (mezzo-soprano, Lithuanian National Opera), Mati Turi (tenor), Reigo Tamm (tenor) and Alger Ahuna (soprano, Tartu Boys’ Choir).
This year Magi will continue the tradition he initiated, of performing major religious works at the opening concert. In 2011 they performed ‘Requiem’ by Giuseppe Verdi and in 2012 ‘Stabat Mater’ by Dvorak.

There will be a total of 160 numbers of the orchestra and choir performing ‘Elijah’. The participants include the Vanemuine Opera Choir (chorus master: Piret Talts) and Tartu Youth Choir (chorus masters: Kadri Leppoja and Riho Leppoja). This is the first time in more than 20 years that such a large number of performers will be making music together in Riga’s Dome Cathedral, whose hall seats approximately one thousand spectators.

Concert at Riga Dome Cathedral at 7.00 p.m. on Sept. 14.
More events at: www.riga2014.org/eng/