Orchestra “Riga” will lead a walk on the paths of jazz history / Article / LSM.lv

In the Riga Festival program, the orchestra “Riga” will offer listeners a musical walk along the paths of jazz history. The concert will take place on August 14 at 19.00 in the Great Hall of VEF Culture Palace, the representatives of the orchestra “Riga” informed.

The concert program “Walk along the Jazz History Trails” will take Rigans and guests of the city on a musical walk through the golden age of the 20th century jazz and swing music era. The author of the concert, Valdis Butāns, the artistic director and chief conductor of the Riga Orchestra, was inspired by the musical heritage of several American artists, inviting soloists – Beata Zviedri, Rūta Dūdumu-Ķirsi and Elīzas Evaldis. The soloists of the concert will feel the image of the jazz queen Ella Fitzgerald, interpret the songs performed by the iconic actresses Marilyn Monroe and Peggy Lee, as well as agree on a special trio performing the most popular female vocal groups of the swing era – the sister Andrew Sisters. In addition to singing, the soloists have also staged choreography under the direction of dancer Egija Abarovič.

The big band of the Riga Orchestra will perform music of swing era musicians, popular orchestra of jazz legend Glen Miller and Benny Goodman, such as the compositions “Moonlight Serenade” and “In the Mood”.

The authentic form of the concert is given by the fact that a very large part of the music performed by the big band will sound in original music arrangements and listeners will have the opportunity to hear this music as it sounded in the last century.

Musicologist Raitis Zapackis will enrich the musical walk with historical stories. Asked to emphasize Ella Fitzgerald’s musical heritage, he says: “Fitzgerald was the first female vocalist to start singing skeleton. It is singing without words, using different syllables to design sound improvisation. At first, these vocal improvisations were accurately written, which can be heard in the recordings, but over time Ella learned to improvise freely and dazzlingly with her voice, not only imitating various musical instruments, but also voices, and the audience was ecstatic when she sang as Marilyn Monroe or Lewis Armstrong. . ”

The number of listeners at the concert is limited. Entrance with invitation cards, which are available at the box office of VEF Culture Palace from August 7.

The orchestra “Riga” will also sing the city of Riga in its parks and squares with small concerts “Skan Rīga!”. On August 6, music will be played in the Town Hall Square, in the square near the Latvian National Opera and Ballet building, as well as in the Vērmane Garden, for a pleasant atmosphere and positive emotions. On August 15, the orchestra will delight the festival visitors on Saturday afternoon in the Town Hall Square.

The organizers of the festival call for compliance with the national restrictions and the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control regarding the spread of Covid-19.

The concerts take place within the official program of “Riga Festival 2020”. They are organized by the Orchestra “Riga”. The festival is supported by the Riga City Council and the Education, Culture and Sports Department of the Riga City Council.

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