The poetry concert Yellow Sidewalk is based on the original, rhythmic and sensual poetry of Latvian urbanist poet Monta Kroma, for which contemporary Latvian composer Anna Veismane has created an exceptional original score. The performance has received recognition from listeners and critics alike and received the 2023 Great Music Award as the Chamber Performance of the Year.

The poet reflects upon the city with all its peculiar nocturnal noises – at night, even people’s heartbeats and breath can be heard. Each fine detail has its own unusual sound. ‘This is among my most rhythmic music because of its impulse, its boldness, and also the inspiration from the vivid characters found in the poetry of Monta Kroma,’ says Anna Veismane.

10 poems and 12 compositions and songs of the concert will be performed by the outstanding actress Guna Zariņa and brilliant musicians with a great reputation in Latvian academic music – flautist Maija Zandberga, pianist Rihards Plešanovs, and bassoonist Jānis Semjonovs.

Monta Kroma (1919–1994) is one of the brightest and most innovative representatives of Latvian modernist literatūre. Various recent events and publications dedicated to the centenary of the poet, including a collection of her poems compiled by literary scientist Agija Ābiķe-Kondrāte under the title Trotuārs (Pavement), have sparked new interest in the role of this extraordinary poet in the literary space of the 1970s and throughout the history of Latvian poetry.

Kroma’s works contain dynamic urban motifs, intimate emotional insights, sensuality, and graphic expression. In the literary environment of her era, these poems were often rejected or misunderstood, however, they have survived the test of time and nowadays allow us to speak of Kroma as an innovator and a fascinating poet whose legacy is relevant in the context of modernism, urban poetry, and écriture féminine.

Artists:

Guna Zariņa – actress
Maija Zandberga – flute
Rihards Plešanovs – piano
Jānis Semjonovs – bassoon