From August 12 to 18, the 9th international music festival “Summertime” will once again be held in the Latvian coastal resort city of Jūrmala.Just as in previous years, the famous Latvian soprano Inese Galante has invited her musical friends from Latvia and the world to perform in the music festival.
The festival’s opening concert on August 12 will feature Galante and her friends from various world opera houses. The opening concert will feature the best arias of Wagner and Verdi played by the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra and conductor Gintaras Rinkevicius (Lithuania).
Galante has invited Latvian opera stars Aleksandrs Antonenko (tenor) and Egils Silins (bassbaritone) and the brightest foreign performers of Wagner’s music – Emma Vetter (soprano, Sweden), Andreas Schager (tenor, Germany) and Christina Khosrowi (mezzo-soprano, Germany) to celebrate together the 200th birthday of Wagner and Verdi and the opening of the festival.
The festival will include a total of seven concert performances from a wide range of musical styles – from jazz to flamenco, to gospel music and opera. Galante herself will perform several concerts during the festival together with her friends and other musicians from around the world.The closing concert will take place on August 18, where Galante will perform the brightest melodies of classical music together with Russian countertenor Oleg Bezinskikh. The concert will also feature Ray M. Wade Jr. (tenor, U.S.), who will perform a spiritual music concert, while the well-known Latvian singer Intars Busulis (vocal) will perform classics by the Latvian maestro Raimonds Pauls.
The diversity of genres is one of the indispensable conditions of the festival. Famous opera and concert singers, jazzmen, soloists-instrumentalists, choirs, orchestras, folk dancers and vocal groups perform at the festival for the joy of the audience.
The second condition is the patronage of Inese Galante, the brilliant Latvian singer, whose art is well known all over the world. She invites the participants personally; therefore the touch of intimacy has to make the mood of the festival more friendly and easy.
