ANTOŅENKO, KINČA, ŠVĒDE AND LNSO I To Andrejs Žagars from Friends

For the second year in a row, the Andrejs Žagars Cultural Development Foundation, in collaboration with the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra (LNSO) and Concert Hall ”Cēsis” will host a concert dedicated to Andrejs Žagars in his hometown of Cēsis.

The concert will feature the LNSO under conductor Andris Poga and the opera soloists – soprano Liene Kinča, mezzo-soprano Zanda Švēde, tenor Aleksandrs Antoņenko, and the young baritone Rinalds Kandalincevs.

The concert will feature operas by Richard Wagner, Giuseppe Verdi, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Camille Saint-Saëns, and other composers. Mikhail Baryshnikov said of Andrejs Žagars in an interview with “IR” magazine: “When he left the opera and began doing his personal things, I laughed: you want to make Salzburg out of Riga! He had such enthusiasm! He laughed when I teased him like that.(…) He helped so many wonderful artists, conductors and singers to build their careers. Hats off.”

“The content of Andrejs Žagars’ life was high-quality, inspiring art and educated, enlightened and beautiful people”, says Artūrs Maskats, composer and Foundation representative, describing his long-standing colleague. Andrejs Žagars has always made the pursuit of higher goals and support for excellence was his motto – this characterises both his long-standing work as director of the opera, during which the Latvian National Opera became one of Europe’s and the world’s leading opera houses, and the work with his foundation, which has enabled Latvian audiences to experience performances by such world-renowned artists like Robert Wilson and Mikhail Baryshnikov, and concerts by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under the direction of Andris Nelsons.