Chamber orchestra “Sinfonietta Rīga” and its music director Normunds Šnē announce the schedule of their upcoming 18th concert season. Among a varied and intriguing lineup of music, well-renowned soloists and guest conductors the headline event will be the inauguration concerts of the orchestra’s new artistic partner Jörg Widmann.

 

Jörg Widmann is one of the most multi-faceted artists of his generation. In the academic music world (and especially its German-speaking parts) Jörg is held in equally high regard as a composer, a conductor, and also as a clarinet player. In the 2022/2023 season Jörg continues his creative journey by realizing his artistic goals in various ways, such as working as a guest composer and conductor at the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra and the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, resident artist at the Zaterdag Matinée program of the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Alte Oper in Frankfurt and de Singel arts center in Antwerp. 2023/2024 Widmann has been selected as the resident composer of the Berlin Philharmoniker in the 2023/2024 concert season.

 

The orchestra has developed a friendly and trusting relationship with the renowned German musician over several years of musical collaboration.

The strengthening of this relationship will be a significant contributor to the orchestra’s artistic growth, as Normunds Šnē emphasizes:

 

“Mutual affection and respect are the foundations of the collaboration between Sinfonietta and Jörg Widmann. We wish to develop these ties further and together enjoy inspirational moments on stages in Latvia and throughout Europe”.

 

Alongside classicism, romantism and 20th century music Sinfonietta Rīga will also offer its listeners multiple Latvian music premieres in its 18th concert season.

 

The season’s opening concerts at the Great Guild in Riga on 22 September and the Valmiera Culture Centre on 23 September will see performances by the accordion virtuoso Ksenija Sidorova, who has previously collaborated with the orchestra in the centennial anniversary tour of the Latvian Republic in Sweden in 2018.

 

During the Autumn Chamber Music Festival, the reins of the orchestra will be taken over by the charismatic principal conductor of the Munich Chamber Orchestra, Clemens Schuldt. On 14 October, the concert “Haydn’s Overture and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2” will feature works by contemporary British composer Thomas Adès and Witold Lutosławski’s “Double Concerto for Oboe, Harp & Small Orchestra”, with well-known and experienced soloists Egils Upatnieks and Ieva Šablovska.

 

On 3 November at the Great Guild Hall and on 4 November at GORS in Rēzekne the orchestra and its conductor Normunds Šnē will present the premiere of Andris Dzenītis’s “Concerto for Harpsichord”, together with leading Latvian harpsichord musician Ieva Saliete.

 

On 9 December we will meet in the romantism-filled world of Schumann’s “Nachtlied” and Schubert’s “Unfinished Symphony”. On the stage of the Great Guild Hall the orchestra will be joined by the Latvian Radio Choir, both conducted by the Portuguese conductor Dinis Souza who previously garnered local acclaim in Riga at the “Viennese Classics” festival.

 

Clearly the highlight of the season will be the inauguration concerts of Jörg Widmann, the acclaimed German clarinettist, conductor and composer, who is starting a long-term collaboration with the orchestra as its artistic partner. This significant event will take place on 2 February at the “Great Amber” concert hall in Liepāja and on 3 February at the Great Guild Hall in Riga.

 

More information about the 18th season and its concerts is available at the orchestra’s home page https://www.sinfoniettariga.lv/en.

Concert tickets and subscriptions are available for purchase in all ticket offices of “Biļešu paradīze” and on its web site. Discounts of 50% available to students and pensioners when purchasing separate concert tickets.

 

Photo: ©Marco Borggreve

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