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Latvian National Opera and Ballet (LNOB) is a repertory opera house
at 3 Aspazijas Bulvar, Riga. The repertoire includes opera and
ballet performances, which are shown in season (from mid-September
to the end of May). Almost 200 performances are presented at LNOB
during one season, and an average of 6 new productions are prepared.
The Great Hall has 946 seats, the New Hall has 250 to 300 seats. It
employs more than 600 full-time employees: 28 opera soloists, 105
orchestra musicians, 62 choral artists and 70 ballet troupe members.
The building is located in the greenery of the canalside of the
center of Riga.
Since November 5, 2019, the chairman of the
board of the Latvian National Opera and Ballet is Egils Siliņš.
The building of the 1st city (German) theater of Riga was built in 1860-1863. in 2010 according to the project of the architect Ludvig Bonštet (1822-1885), in the place where one of the elements of the Riga fortification system - Pankūku Bastion - used to be located. It is a Hellenized classicist building, the most luxurious north-eastern facade of which is decorated with a portico of Ionic columns and a group of allegorical figures (Apollo, symbols of tragedy and comedy, the genius of drama, etc.).
The beginnings of the Latvian National Opera and Ballet can be
traced back to 1782, when the Rigaer Stadttheater, built according
to Haberland's project, with 500 seats and also called the House of
Muses, was opened. Its director, Otto Hermann von Fettinghoff-Schel,
maintained the large symphony orchestra of 24 musicians at his own
expense. Konrāds Feige was invited as concertmaster and conductor of
concerts and operas, who staged performances not only in Riga, but
also in St. Petersburg, Rävele and Türbat. When Füttinghoff moved to
Petersburg in 1788, actor Meierer became the director of the House
of Muses. In 1815, the Musse Society (die Gesellschaft der Musse)
bought the building from the Fittinghof family. In 1837-1839, the
conductor of the theater was Rihards Wagner.
1860—1863. built
a new Riga City Theater building with almost 2,000 audience seats in
2011, which was opened with productions of Friedrich Schiller's
"Wallenstein Camp" and Ludwig van Beethoven's "Fidelio". On June 14,
1882, the Riga City Theater burned down, only the outer walls
remained. 1882—1887. In 2010, the building burned down in a fire was
restored according to the project of the city architect Reinhold
Schmeling. During the First World War, the theater was closed to the
German troupe. Until 1915, the theater premises were used by the
Riga Imperial Music School for its concerts. 1916/1917 Angarov and
Rudin's Russian dramatic troupe performed in the theater in the
season of 2008. On September 29, 1917, the German City Theater of
Riga (Deutsches Stadt-Theater in Riga) was reopened, the last
performance of the German troupe in these premises took place on
January 1, 1919; On the afternoon of January 2, the opera annex,
which was completely restored in 1922, burned down.
After the
LSPR government took over, by the order of Andrejas Upīš, the head
of the art department of the Education Commissariat, on January 23,
1919, the Latvian Opera collective moved to the building of the Riga
German City Theater: on that day, "The Wandering Dutchman" was
performed in the new premises on January 15, 1918. October
production (Teodors Reiters, chief conductor of the Latvian Opera
from September 1918 and director from January 1919, who was
interested in the issue of wider spaces, worked in the Soviet
Latvian Commissariat of Education as the head of the Music
Sub-Department). On February 9, by the decree of the government of
Pēteras Stučkas, the Latvian Opera, maintained on a cooperative
basis, was nationalized and declared the Soviet Opera of Latvia,
ensuring regular funding from the state budget.
After the
expulsion of P. Stučka's government on May 22, 1919, the troupe
returned to the name "Latvian Opera" and was assigned to the
Southern Latvian Brigade. On the other hand, after the conclusion of
the truce in Strazdumuiža on August 15, both city theaters were
requisitioned. On September 23, 1919, at a meeting of the Cabinet of
Ministers of the Republic of Latvia, the "Regulations on the
National Opera" were adopted. The troupe again, as in Soviet times,
had a legally guaranteed theater building, the status of a national
opera, and state funding. On December 2, a production of Richard
Wagner's opera "Tannheiser" was performed at the newly founded
Latvian National Opera (its premiere in Latvian, directed by
Dmitrijs Arbenins and staged by Jānis Kuga, conducted by conductor
Teodors Reiter, took place already on May 10, 1919 at the Soviet
Latvian Opera). Until the end of the 1930s, it was customary to
celebrate December 2 as the birthday of the Latvian National Opera,
during the LPSR the establishment of the opera was celebrated on
January 23. The 90th anniversary concert of the LNO troupe took
place on December 22, 2009, while the centenary was celebrated with
two jubilee concerts "Mūsu operai 100" on November 16 and 17, 2018.
From 1920 to 1940, the Latvian National Opera was the center of
Riga's musical life. Every year it presented up to 8 new productions
of operas, from December 1, 1922, ballet performances also began
with Peter Ludwig Hertel's ballet "The Vain Attention". Over 20
years, more than 300 performances were held, with an average of
220,000 spectators per year.
In 1940, when the Soviet Union
occupied Latvia, the name of the opera theater was changed to
"Latvian SSR State Opera and Ballet Theatre". During the following
3-year Nazi German occupation (1941-1944), it was called the Riga
Opera Theater, after which the name of 1940 was returned again. On
April 24, 1989, the Latvian National Opera celebrated its 70th
anniversary and returned to the name used in the interwar period.
The 1990 season closed with the performance of Giuseppe Verdi's
"Masquerade Balls" and the reconstruction of the building began,
which was completed in 1995. The opera troupe returned to its stage
with the production of Jānis Mediņš's opera "Fire and Night". In
2001, the building of the extension complex with the New Hall and
300 spectator seats was completed.
Theater directors and artistic directors
Theodore Reiter, director
from January 1919 to March 1926.
Jānis Zālītis, director from
December 1919 to April 1922, Alfrēds Kalniņš [1879-1951], representative
of the Ministry of Education in the directorate from December 1919 to
April 1921, when he was replaced in this position until April 1922 by
Jānis Brigaders [1856-1936].
Under the leadership of the chief
director Teodoras Reiter, directors from April 1922: Jānis Mediņš and
Alberts Kviesis. From April 1925 to March 1926, Paul Shuberts and Alfred
Kalniņš.
From March 1926 to June 1927, the chief director was
Ansis Gulbis, the directors were Pēteris Pauls Jozuus until June 1927
and Jānis Zālītis until September 1927.
Pēteris Pauls Jozuus,
acting chief director from June 1927 to September 1927, when he became
director - without additional directors - until April 1929.
Albert Prande, Acting Director from April 1929 to February 1931.
Theodore Reiter, director from February 1931 to August 1934.
Nikolajs Vanadzins, director from August 1934 to June 1936.
Jēkabs Poruks, director from July 1936 to August 1940.
Aleksandrs
Viļumanis, director from August 1940 to April 1941.
Pēteris
Smilga, director from April 1941 to June 1941.
Jēkabs Poruks,
director from July 1941 to September 1944.
Rūdolfs Bērziņš
director from October 11, 1944 to November 11, 1945.
Yevgenii
Meija, director from December 25, 1945 to June 9, 1952.
Aleksandrs Āboliņš, director from June 10, 1952 to November 21, 1956.
Yevgenijs Meija, director from November 22, 1956 to March 16, 1958
(Vladimirs Kaupužs [b. 1925] is director-organizer during this period).
Vladimirs Kaupužs, director from March 17, 1958 to January 15, 1962.
Isaak Arolovich, director-organizer from January 16, 1962 to May 6,
1962.
Nikolajs Kārklins, director from May 7, 1962 to November
15, 1963.
Valdis Ruja, director from November 22, 1963 to January
14, 1966.
Linards Eichmanis, director from January 15, 1966 to
November 15, 1973.
Yevgenijs Vanags, director from January 23,
1974 to July 9, 1977.
Balfour Ferber, managing director from
October 19, 1976 to September 6, 1978.
Valdis Blums, director
from August 1, 1978 to May 15, 1988.
Arvīds Bomik, director from
June 15, 1988 to June 20, 1990 (when his signature rights as director
ended).
Olgerts Dunkers, formally director from May 21, 1990 to
June 20, 1990.
Juris Savickis, director from June 20, 1990 to
August 31, 1994.
Gatis Strads, acting director from September 1,
1994 to August 1, 1995.
Ivars Bērziņš, intendant from August 1,
1995 to March 8, 1996.
Mārtiņš Bauze-Krastiņš, acting director
from February 9, 1996 to August 6, 1996.
Andrejs Žagars, acting
director from August 6, 1996 to November 5, 1996, director from November
6, 1996 to September 11, 2013
Zigmars Liepiņš - chairman of the
board from November 4, 2013 to November 4, 2019, Inese Eglīte - member
of the board since September 12, 2013, Daina Markova - member of the
board from September 12, 2013 to 10, 2019 for September.
Egils
Siliņš, board member Inese Eglīte and board member Sandis Voldiņš (since
September 11, 2019).
Conductors:
Teodor Reiter - from 1918
to 1944, chief conductor from 1918 to 1925;
Bernhards Valle -
1919/1920. season, 1922/1923 season of the year;
David Jakobson -
from 1920 to 1922;
Jānis Mediņš - from 1920 to 1928;
Emil
Cooper (Cooper) - chief conductor from 1925 to 1928;
Georg
Schnéevoigt - chief conductor from 1929 to 1931;
Otto Carl (Carl)
- from 1929 to 1933;
Ignats Waghalter (Waghalter) - from 1931 to
1933;
Lovro von Matačić (Matačić) - 1932;
Jānis Kalniņš -
from 1933 to 1944;
Napoleone Anovazzi (Annovazzi) - 1934/1935
season of the year;
Salvatore Indovino (Indovino) - 1935/1936
season of the year;
Pēteris Barison - 1936/1937 season of the
year;
Michels Štemanis (Steimann) - 1936/1937. season of the
year;
Arvīds Norītis - from 1937 to 1944;
Leo Blech
(Blech) - from 1938 to 1941;
Leonid Wigner - from 1939 to 1949,
chief conductor from 1945 to 1949;
Arvīds Jansons - from 1944 to
1952;
Sergej Orlanskis - 1945/1946 season of the year;
Mikhail Zhukov - from 1946 to 1951, chief conductor from 1949 to 1951;
Rihards Glazup - from 1949 to 1992, chief conductor from 1967 to
1975 and 1990/1991. in the season of the year;
Edgar Ton from
1949 to 1967, chief conductor from 1952 to 1967;
Leonids Hudoleys
- from 1951 to 1954;
Izrails Chudnovskis from 1953 to 1957;
Jānis Hunhens from 1954 to 1986;
Jázeps Lindbergs - from 1962
to 1983;
Aleksandrs Viļumanis - from 1970 to 1996, chief
conductor from 1975 to 1985 and from 1994 to 1996;
Valentin
Bogolyubovs - from 1976 to 1982;
Leons Amoliņš - from 1981 to
1992, chief conductor from 1986 to 1990;
Viesturs Gailis - from
1984 to 1993, chief conductor from 1991 to 1993;
Amber Belt -
from 1986 to 1994;
Jānis Zirnis - from 1989 to 2004;
Normunds Dregis - from 1996 to 2013;
Guntars Bernāts - from 1996
to 2000;
Gintaras Rinkevičius - musical director from 1996 to
2000, chief conductor from 2000 to 2003, chief guest conductor from 2007
to 2009;
Andris Nelsons - chief conductor from 2003 to 2007;
Modestas Pitrėnas - chief conductor from 2012 to 2013;
Andris
Veismanis - from 1997;
Normunds Vaicis - from 1989;
Farhad
Stade - from 1997;
Jānis Liepiņš - from 2014;
Aigars Meri
- from 2006;
Kaspars Adamsons - from 2014;
Mārtiņš Ozoliņš
- from 2003, chief conductor from 2013;
Artistic Directors:
1863-1918 artistic and administrative supervision was represented by
the theater director.
From 1919, the function of power was often
delegated to several people at the same time: artistic direction during
this period was mostly exercised by the chief conductor, leaving
administrative matters to the director.
In the period after the
reconstruction of the opera house (after 1995), there was a return to
the management model that was implemented in the period from 1863 to
1918, with the main director/chairman of the board participating in the
formation of both the theater's artistic and economic policy.
Kārlis Zariņš [1930-2015], artistic director from June 20, 1990 to
September 1, 1991;
Viesturs Gailis [b. 1955], artistic director
from September 1, 1991 to August 31, 1993;
Aleksanders Viļumanis
[b. 1942], artistic director from June 10, 1994 to November 4, 1996;
Arturs Maskats [born 1957], deputy director in artistic matters from
November 7, 1996 to November 7, 2013.
Ballet masters:
Voldemar Komisar - chief ballet master from 1918 to 1921;
Nikolai
Sergeev - chief ballet master from 1922 to 1925;
Alexandra
Fyodorova Fokin - chief ballet master from 1925 to 1932;
Anatol
Vilzak - chief ballet master from 1932 to 1933;
Mechislav
Pianovskis - chief ballet master from 1933 to 1934;
Osvalds
Lemanis - chief ballet master from 1934 to 1944;
Helena
Tangiyeva-Birzniece - chief ballet master from 1945 to 1952;
Yevgenii Chang - ballet master from 1950 to 1961;
Helena
Tangiyeva-Birzniece - chief ballet master from 1956 to 1965;
Irene Strode - acting principal ballet master from 1965 to 1968;
Alexander Lembergs - chief ballet master from 1968 to 1985;
Janina Pankrate - chief ballet master from 1986 to 1989;
Modris
Cers - head of the ballet troupe from 1990 to 1992;
Lita Beiris -
chief ballet master from 1992 to 1993;
Aivars Leimanis - chief
ballet master and head of the ballet troupe since 1993.