Easy to read

Over the weekend, the “Personally” concert series—a favorite among audiences—kicked off its fall season at the “Great Amber” Concert Hall in Liepāja with a program featuring poetry and piano music. In the warm atmosphere of the Chamber Hall, to mark the conclusion of Poetry Days, the poetry concert “Youth” was performed, reflecting on the splendor and irony of this stage of life.

The concept for the program is based on ideas from Ivars Šteinbergs’ award-winning poetry collection “Jaunība” (“Neputns”, 2022). It was created by bringing together his texts and the verses of other notable Latvian poets, as well as the crystal-clear voice of singer Nora Kalniņa and the masterful piano playing of pianist Rihards Plešanovs.

The “Youth” trio of artists are peers who, in their youth—just like the characters in the book “Youth”—travelled by hitchhiking to a festival and attended bohemian concerts, but now, each a master of their own artistic craft, they told a shared story at a poetry concert.

During the concert, Latvian chamber music dynamically blended with Šteinbergs’ rich language, evoking memories of youth and revealing new forms of artistic expression. The concert also featured a new work by composer Henrijs Poikāns, “Since I’ve Known You,” with text by Ivars Šteinbergs, composed specifically for this poetry concert. In addition, the program interwove the stories of youth explored in the program with musical works by Jēkabs Nīmanis, Jēkabs Bernāts, Evija Skuķe, Anna Fišere, and John Cage, and concluded with a solo performance of Georgs Pelēcis opus by Rihards Plešanovs.

After the program concluded, a fairly large number of audience members gathered for post-concert discussions with the participating artists. During these discussions, attendees learned more about the behind-the-scenes story of the program’s creation and the shared history of its creators’ ideas.

As part of the “Personally” concert series, two more outstanding chamber music events are scheduled for this year. On October 25, the string quartet “Berči,” together with the versatile percussionist Marta Kauliņa-Pelnēna, will perform chamber music works by Rihards Dubra, Pēteris Vask, Georgs Pelēcis, and Jēkabs Jančevskis.

As part of the “Personally” concert series, two more outstanding chamber music events are scheduled for this year. On October 25, the string quartet “Berči,” together with the versatile percussionist Marta Kauliņa-Pelnēna, will perform chamber music works by Rihards Dubra, Pēteris Vasks, Georgs Pelēcus, and Jēkabs Jančevskis. On December 6, the talented Latvian violinist Daniils Bulajevs, Hungarian cellist Dóra Kokas, and Estonian pianist Irina Zaharenkova will treat the audience to emotionally rich music from the German and Austrian Romantic periods.

The concert “Poetry Concert ‘Youth’” was organized by SIA “Lielais Dzintars” with the support of the Liepāja City Council and the State Culture Capital Foundation. The post-concert discussions are supported by SIA “Abavas dārzi.”