In honor of the most heart-felt holiday of the year, the chamber choir under the supervision of its artistic director Andris Veismanis has prepared a concert program, which examines the musical decorations of the holiday in Europe through the images created by the composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.

The central work of the program, from which the name of the concert is derived, is the "Oratorio de Noël" or "Christmas Oratorio" by the French Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921),  of the Romantic era which, composed more than 160 years ago, has not lost its relevance all over the world even nowadays. In the performance of the oratorio, pianist Agnese Egliņa, harpist Elizabeta Lāce, as well as the string quintet: Kristiāna Krūskopa, Otto Trapāns, Arigo Strāls, Inga Ozola and Toms Timofejevs will take the stage alongside the Riga Chamber Choir "Ave Sol" and its conductors Andris Veismanis and Jurgis Cābulis. Singers from the choir will also demonstrate their voices with bright solo numbers.

The works of the most important British composers of the 20th century have also been selected for the concert. Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) during the Second World War, on his way home from the USA, composed a series of Christmas carols in medieval English, which, supplemented by Gregorian chants in Latin, were combined into the cantata "Ceremony of Carols" ("Solstice Songs", 1942 ). The piece was originally dedicated to a women's or children's choir, but immediately after its publication it became so popular that it was skillfully adapted for a mixed choir as well.

Another British composer, whose piece will be performed at the concert, is Gustav Holst (1874-1934), a composer of Belarusian origin, known for the famous cycle of symphonic poems "The Planets", that has left behind a lot of choral music specifically for women's choirs. Andris Veismanis, the artistic director of the Riga Chamber Choir "Ave Sol", has chosen to include Gustav Holst's "Hymn to Venam" (1910) in the program, which will be sang by the female chamber choir group and harpist Elizabeta Lāce. This hymn is the fruit of the author's interest in ancient Indian mythology, which in the context of Christmas can also be treated as a story about the birth of Christ.

In contrast to the voices of the women's part of the choir, males will also be heard, whilst looking into the pages of German composer Franz Schubert's choral music.

The Riga Chamber Choir "Ave Sol" carries the name of the sun, therefore in the latest concert program "Christmas Oratorio" the choir will sing and with the help of music bring warm lights to the listeners when we need it the most - at the winter solstice, when, after darkness recedes, the sun starts its way up the hill again.

Tickets for the concert available at "Biļešu paradīze" box office and www.bilesuparadize.lv

This is one of the Riga Municipality's Christmas activities. You can familiarize yourself with all festive events in Riga on the website https://svetki.riga.lv/, as well as follow the municipal social network page "Rīgā notiek".