The festival program includes chamber music concerts, master classes for new musicians of the Baltic Sea region and a symphonic music program, which on 19 July will be performed in Ventspils, on 20 July – in Liepāja, and on 22 July – in Cēsis by an orchestra formed of the best instrumentalists in Latvia and conducted by the audience favourite outstanding maestro Karel Mark Chichon.

The special guest of Festival ŠALC will be the world famous Latvian singer Mariana Rebeka, who gives brilliant performances in the world’s largest operas.

The Latvian Festival orchestra gathers the best musicians of our country, and the concert of this orchestra “Rose Admirer” (Rožu Kavalieris), held in the Liepāja Concert Hall “Great Amber” and conducted by Karel Mark Chichon in July 2017, became one of the most significant events of the year in the cultural life of Latvia. “Rose Admirer” received the social media award “KG culture” in the category “Music” (2017) and the Liepāja Culture Award 2017.

In the festival ŠALC we can now expect the sequel of the Latvian Festival orchestra and maestro Chichon’s work, and this time the subject is – love. Concert guest Marina Rebeka will give two extended popular singing performances.

The first is Wagner and Elizabeth Aria Dic, teure Halle from the opera Tannhäuser. With slightly strange words “Welcome you, the dear festival hall” Elizabeth addresses the legendary Mastersinger Hall of the Wartburg Palace, while being in it, but actually Elizabeth’s heart has been touched by the master singer Tannhäuser and his performed songs, and while restraining the flames of her heart Elizabeth talks about love in this empty majestic room.

Another masterpiece of the opera world – The letter scene from the Tchaikovsky opera Eugene Onegin. The young Tatyana has been dazzled by the tired, bored, but undeniably attractive and clever Onegin, who lives nearby. The girl is taken over by a sudden rush of girlish love, and in the silence of night she writes a daring letter, which due to the famous lyrics of Pushkin, as well as for the music by Tchaikovsky, is an exciting and psychologically very delicately extended resonant adventure.

In the interpretation of Karel Mark Chichon we will hear the royal introduction of Wagner’s opera Rienzi, the favoured Waltz from Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake and bars from Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet, where in the arrangement of pieces by the maestro himself, commemorating the Veronese youth and contemplating the great power of love, we will enjoy the endlessly captivating, popular, dramatic and gentle music by Prokofiev.

The special moment of the concert – honouring the centenary of Latvia with the famous aria by Jānis Mednis from the Third Orchestra Suite. This symbol of Latvian symphony orchestra music is newly shaped by the experienced Liepāja conductor and arranger Jēkabs Ozoliņš – among the instruments of the orchestra he has intertwined a score for female voice, and Marina Rebeka will have the honour of perming the new version.

Venue: Great Hall

Organised by: Good music