Riga Chamber Choir "Ave Sol" invites you to the traditional concert "Christmas Oratorio" on December 10 at 18.00 in Riga Cathedral.
The concert organization "Ave Sol" continues the tradition started last year - the annual Advent concert "Christmas Oratorio". This year, with the cooperation of conductors Andris Veismanis and Jurgis Cābulis, the Riga Chamber Choir "Ave Sol" and the mixed choir of the Rigas Cathedral Choir School, as well as an ensemble of talanted academic music soloists, will participate in the concert.
On the second Advent, which this year falls on December 10, in the Riga Cathedral at 18:00, the "Ave Sol" Riga Chamber Choir's concert "Christmas Oratorio" will bring to light the opus of the same name by the French romanticist Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns from oblivion. In order for the oratorio to sound even more magnificent this year, the artistic director of the Riga Chamber Choir "Ave Sol" Andris Veismanis has invited the mixed choir of the Riga Cathedral Choir School, whose artistic director is the conductor of the Riga Chamber Choir "Ave Sol" Jurgis Cābulis. Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns opus will also feature a constellation of talanted soloists from among the Riga Chamber Choir "Ave Sol" - the young soprano Agate Grīnhofa, the sonorous mezzo-soprano Kristīne Freimane, the well-known vocalist Aleksandra Špitsberga and the inimitable tenor Mārtiņš Zvīgulis, as well as a reunion with the former Riga Chamber Choir "Ave Sol ” singer, young and promising bassist ArturS Švarcbahs.
The idea of the concert program is to juxtapose two large works against two smaller ones. This year, as well as the last year, the core of the program is the oratorio of Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns, which will be accompanied by the spiritual of the Estonian minimalist Arvo Pert "Which was the son of...", which will present the genealogical relationship of Jesus with God over 40 generations in the harmonious voices of the 26 singers of the Riga Chamber Choir "Ave Sol". The bright colors of the Riga Cathedral organ will also be heard at the concert - its owner, virtuoso organist Aigars Reinis, will demonstrate the most brilliant piece of the world organ repertoire, namely the "Tocat" from the fifth symphony by Charles-Maria Vidor for organ solo. At the climax of the concert - Rihards Dubra's masterpiece "Tēvreize" composed in 2021 for a large choir, organ and instrumental ensemble, as well as a quintet of singers and two quartets, which will be located throughout the Cathedral.
Both in the Saëns oratorio and in Dubra's "Tēvreize" the tones of Latvia's leading instrumentalists of academic music will sound alongside the choirs - there will be a string quintet (violinists Marta Spārniņa and Otto Trapāns, violist Arigo Strāls, cellist Inga Ozola, contrabassist Toms Timofejevs), harpist Elizabeta Lāce, saxophonist Arvīds Kazlausks, as well as percussion instruments in the hands of Mikus Bāliņš, and of course also the Riga Cathedral organ and Aigars Reinis. It must be said that Dubra's "Tēvreize" will feature a bright interplay of two cellists, in which the young talent Pauls Āriks Skujiņš will appear alongside Inga Ozola.
Riga Chamber Choir "Ave Sol" of the Association of Cultural Institutions of the Riga City Municipality "Ave Sol" is a choir founded in 1969 by the famous Latvian conductor Imants Kokars, which has carried the name of Latvia to the world during the last half century in the sun sign, which is also encoded in the name of the chamber choir - "Salutations to the sun!". Since 2013, the choir has been led by conductors Andris Veismanis and Jurģis Cābulis, who have led the Riga Chamber Choir "Ave Sol" through a vivid development of vocal art and a synthesis of various genres. "Ave Sol" has a wide range of singing specialists who will be able to sing everything that the score can carry and not only - starting with a unison lullaby, not stopping at an opera production, and reaching for the sunshine, immortalizing Latvian and world choral works on sound carriers.
Entrance to the concert is free
You can find out more about Riga Municipality's events dedicated to the Christmas time on the website svetki.riga.lv, as well as follow the news on the "Rīga" and "Rīga notiek" social network pages.