On its European tour, the orchestra will visit four cities – Vienna, Prague, Rīga, and Leipzig.
Nelsons, whose hometown is Rīga, said: "I'm always eager to return to Rīga both privately and musically. It's a great joy to perform here again as it has been several years since the last time."
It will be the orchestra's first time in Rīga, and Nelsons' first concert here since 2018 when he performed with the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra.
The BSO and Andris Nelsons will be on tour with Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich's music on the 50th anniversary of Shostakovich's death.
The concerts will take place at the Latvian National Opera (LNO). The LNO's Board Chairman Sandis Voldiņš said that the intention is to also set up big screens next to the opera to gather crowds, as the hall can only accommodate so many people. Rīga has been mulling the need for a proper concert hall for years, and two years ago, the Congress Hall was chosen as the location for a renovated acoustic hall. But that is still in the future.
Andris Nelsons commented:
"Thinking about where to play in Rīga, it turns out that the only place with a stage that can gather a decent number of people is the opera.
"Of course, the opera also comes with its atmosphere and feeling. I have a personal connection with the opera, my first memories as a five-year-old boy 40 years ago, watching Tannhäuser. At that point I became infected with music and the idea to become a conductor."
The Rīga concerts will take place on May 11 and 12. Two different performances are in store: Shostakovich's 6th and 8th Symphony in one concert, and Shostakovich's 15th Symphony in the other. The second concert will feature the outstanding Latvian violinist Baiba Skride, who will perform Shostakovich's dramatic Violin Concerto No.1. Skride, a long-time collaborator of Nelsons, made her debut as a soloist with the BSO in 2013, performing the same work.
Ticket sales for the concerts will begin (and presumably end very quickly) in December.
Andris Nelsons has received the Grammy Award three times with the BSO – in 2016, 2017, and 2019, all for Shostakovich performances.
