Latvian National Opera’s soloists Jūlija Vasiļjeva and Artjoms Safronovs invite you to a chamber music concert, accompanied by the pianist Ilze Ozoliņa. Together, the trio will perform the British composer Benjamin Britten’s vocal music - Michelangelo sonnets, Cabaret songs and folk song settings. Shakespeare's poetry will be read by actor Gerds Lapoška.
Cabaret Songs, created by the legendary composer, are like lessons in love, exploring its deeper meaning and form despite any doubt or losses. Witty, bittersweet and touching, the lyrics perfectly accompany Britten’s music, with jazz, blues and other musical influences present in his work. By widening his creative horizon, the composer has ‘dressed in music’ the seven sonnets of the artist and poet Michelangelo, i.e. seven love songs in Italian. Composed in a particularly high tessitura, this suite of pieces demands special vocal mastery on behalf of the performer. Meanwhile, Britten has experimented with the thematic material in his Irish and British folk songs, imbuing them with a non-traditional, even peculiar sound. Of course, love remains as the basis of all the events told in song.