OREANDA-NEWS. February 19, 2013. The guest tour of the Latvian National Opera at the Bolshoi Theatre was completed. The original performances of classical opera masterpieces presented on the main theatrical stage of Russia were an unqualified success with the public and were highly evaluated by theatre critics of the Russian capital. The guest tour took place with the support of the Ministry of Culture of Latvia and Rietumu Bank, reported the press-centre of Rietumu Bank.

For its tour to Moscow, the Latvian National Opera brought Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky and Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti. Both performances were staged by the principal director of the opera, Andrejs Zagars, who is well-known in Europe and Russia for his cultivated taste and his art in the modern interpretation of classical works. This time too, as the Russian critics noted, his original version of Eugene Onegin, where the characters are our contemporaries and Tatyana writes a letter to Onegin using a notebook, ‘made many people nervous’. Now it is obvious that Pushkin’s modern characters have found their way into the hearts of Moscow spectators. The result of this tour is four full houses at the Bolshoi and a huge success with the public.

‘In my productions, I try to render the feelings and experiences of characters of classical works of art which are as close to our contemporaries as two or three centuries ago. The style of life and interiors change, but people, their passions and emotions remain the same,’ – says the director Andrejs Zagars. ‘I am very pleased that the Latvian National Opera has been so cordially welcomed at the Bolshoi Theatre and I hope that our future cooperation will be equally fruitful.’

In the performances at the Bolshoi, ‘the star-studded cast’ of the Latvian National Opera, in the opinion of the estimates of the Russian press, took a part. Tatyana’s part in Eugene Onegin was played by the prima Kristine Opolais, who has just signed a contract with the New York’s Metropolitan Opera and who performs at the Vienna and Berlin Operas, London’s Covent Garden on other prestigious stages. In Lucia di Lammermoor, Moscow spectators could see the divalicious Sonora Vaice, who is well-known on the opera stages of Dresden, Stuttgart, Sydney, Moscow and other cultural capitals. The male parts were played by the talented Latvian baritone Janis Apeinis and the promising Turkish tenor Murat Karahan.

The performances given by the Latvian Opera were the second guest tour at the Bolshoi after its reconstruction – following the famous La Scala from Milan. Now Latvia expects a return visit of the Bolshoi Theatre, which will already come to Riga in 2014.

As Member of the Supervisory Council of Rietumu Bank Alexander Gafin noted, ‘Next year will be special for Riga – the city will bear the honorary status of the cultural capital of Europe, which it definitely deserves. I think it will be the best time to visit the Latvian capital city for all who are interested in culture – there will be a lot to go to and see, including new premieres of the Latvian National Opera, which has excellently presented itself in Moscow.’

Within the framework of the tour, an official reception took place in the Bolshoi Theatre which was organised by Rietumu Bank jointly with the Russian Forbes magazine club and Riga City Council and brought together the musical elite of Moscow, persons from the list of Russian billionaires, show business stars and numerous representatives of the capital’s beau monde. The guests of the party were Chairman of the Board of Gazprom Alexey Miller, Natalya Timakova the Press Secretary of Dmitry Medvedev, politician Irina Khakamada, Riga Mayor Nil Ushakov, lawyer Alexander Dobrovinsky, as well as Alexander Maslyakov, Dmitry Malikov, Valery Syutkin, Leonid Yarmolnik, Pavel Lungin, Andrey Rudensky, Igor Chapurin and many others.