Boston Symphony Orchestra Ends Riga Visit to Heartfelt Standing Ovation

Yesterday, the final concert in Riga by the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) concluded to the opera house brimming with heartfelt standing ovation and deeply touching emotions shared by both the audience and the artists.

The BSO performed two concerts for the Latvian public this past Sunday and yesterday under the leadership of Grammy Award winning Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons. The prestigious orchestra was joined in concert by the brilliant Latvian violinist Baiba Skride.

These concerts in Latvia were organised by the Andrejs Žagars Cultural Development Foundation, which continues to gift the Latvian public the unique possibilities to experience the finest of arts via special events.

BSO’s Music Director and Head of Conducting at Tanglewood Andris Nelsons: “Taking the Boston Symphony Orchestra to my hometown for the first time has been a truly wonderful experience and I’d like to thank our audiences in Riga for their warm welcome. It has been a great pleasure for me, the musicians of the orchestra and our brilliant soloist Baiba Skride to share our passion for the genius of Dmitri Shostakovich over these two concerts. The fear and darkness, humor and irony, and hidden hope within Shostakovich’s music allow us to experience facets of both his personal experience as well as those of collective human existence.”

The concerts in Riga are part of BSO’s European tour, which is dedicated to Dmitri Shostakovich’s works, in commemoration of the 50 th anniversary of the composer’s death. The tour also marks the conclusion of BSO and Andris Nelsons’s ten-year-long music recording project, which was realised at the Deutsche Grammophon record label and has been compiled in 19 albums.

BSO will visit only four European cities during their tour from May 8th until May 24th. The tour began with concerts at the Vienna Musikverein. It continued with concerts in Riga, then will follow a concert in Prague, and it will come to a conclusion with a residency spanning eight days at the Shostakovich Festival in Leipzig.

At the May 11 concert in Riga, Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 6, Op. 54 and Symphony No. 8, Op. 65 was performed. On May 12 th – Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 15, Op. 141 as well as Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 99 performed by the outstanding Latvian violinist Baiba Skride. The Latvian violinist has performed numerous times with the Nelsons-led orchestra in the USA, the UK and at various other places in Europe.

The Andrejs Žagars Cultural Development Foundation has been able to realise two especially significant educational events for young musicians in collaboration with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Today, the students of Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music (JVLMA) took part in advantageous masterclasses instructed by principal clarinettist William R. Hudgins. However, the students of the JVLMA Orchestral Conducting and Composition study programmes and the Emīls Dārziņš Music School had the opportunity to attend the orchestra’s dress rehearsals.

The BSO concerts in Riga were organised by the Andrejs Žagars Cultural Development Foundation in special thanks to the support of Rietumu Banka and “Compensa Vienna Insurance Group” ADB Latvia branch, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia, Riga City Council, “Latvijas Gāze” AS, Zuzeum Art Centre and Audi Latvia.