The now-traditional event, hosted at the Culture Hall on Valka's side, has featured popular arias and duets from operettas sung together by Estonian and Latvian opera stars, skipping only one year, when the building was undergoing renovations, Valka district representative Zane Brūvere told LSM.
“This is a wonderful show of friendship between the opera houses,” Bruvere gushed before the performances. “For those yet unfamiliar with the genre it’s a great chance to take a big step closer to opera with the help of operetta,” she said.
Conductor Normunds Vaicis led a cast including Estonian National Opera soloist Urmas Peldma, Latvian National Opera (LNO) soloists Evija Martinsone, Dana Bramane, Laura Grecka, Julija Vasiljeva, Rihards Mačanovskis, Janis Apeinis, Raimonds Bramanis and also the LNO orchestra.
The concert closed with J.Strauss’ Radecka March, confirming the conductor’s promise that “it won’t be boring and the motto could be ‘never a gloomy thought’”. Vaicis said before the concert that he hoped “people would come home from the concert in a more optimistic mood.”
