French charm at the LNSO New Year's Eve concerts
To celebrate the end of the year, the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra (LNSO) will perform its traditional New Year's Eve concerts on 29 and 30 December at the Great Guild. The soloists will include the virtuoso pianist and winner of many competitions Daumants Liepiņš, the musicians of the Equanimity Trio – pianist Edgars Cīrulis, bassist Jānis Rubiks, and percussionist Rūdolfs Dankfelds – and French maestro Julien Masmondet. Together, they will perform beloved melodies by Claude Debussy, Camille Saint‑Saëns, Georges Bizet, Maurice Ravel, and Erik Satie arranged for a jazz trio and orchestra by Edgars Cīrulis and Jānis Rubiks. The concerts start at 19:00.
The annual LNSO New Year's Eve concerts bring together classical music connoisseurs from all over the world. This year, the orchestra will be joined by the French conductor Julien Masmondet. His talent was discovered while working as Paavo Järvi’s assistant conductor at the Orchestre de Paris and, since then, he has received invitations to perform, among others, in France, Russia, the Czech Republic, and Italy. In 2018, the Professional Critics Association presented Masmondet with the Musical Revelation of the Year award.
The French conductor will take the stage together with Latvia's brilliant piano talent Daumants Liepiņš. The musician dazzles the juries of prestigious contests and leaves a mark on anyone who hears him play. Having begun his piano studies at the early age of five, Daumants is a laureate of many international piano competitions. In 2017, he was awarded the Great Music Award in the Young Artist of the Year category. Daumants Liepiņš will play solo in Camille Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto no. 5, composed in the ancient Egyptian city of Luxor and skilfully imbued with Javanese, Spanish, and especially Middle Eastern intonations.
Equanimity Trio or EQ3 is an ensemble formed by three like-minded musicians and friends: pianist Edgars Cīrulis, bassist Jānis Rubiks, and drummer Rūdolfs Dankfelds. The trio performs their own compositions, combining jazz, academic, and rock music influences. Their music is characterised by vast and meditative musical scenery with strong and lasting rhythms and spirited, energetic interplay between the musicians. At the heart of this trio is the idea of creating music that brings about a state of flow and connectedness where everything happens organically and the true spirit of music may express itself freely.
The trio of great musicians will join forces with the LNSO to charm the audience with works by French composers: popular motifs from Bizet's Carmen, Satie's beloved Gymnopédies, Saint‑Saëns' extraordinary Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah, Debussy's graceful The Girl with the Flaxen Hair, and Maurice Ravel's vibrant Toccata. The arrangements for this particular concert programme were created by Edgars Cīrulis and Jānis Rubiks.
Tickets can be purchased at the Biļešu paradīze ticket offices and online: https://www.bilesuparadize.lv/lv/organizer/283
Access to the concert is permitted to visitors who are vaccinated or have recovered from COVID‑19, a digital COVID‑19 certificate and an ID document will be required at the venue.
The concert on 30 December will be broadcast on TV4 for everyone to enjoy.
Press release, 9 December 2021