On September 14 at 13.00:200 p.m., the concert hall “Latvija” will host a grand concert “FROM THE LAND OF LET. Baltic Unity Day.” The event will feature more than XNUMX singers from Latvia and Lithuania, the Ventspils Chamber Orchestra, outstanding artists – singer Zane Jančevska, flute and drum master Andis Klučnieks, conductors Rasa Gelgotiene, Regina Maleckaite, Sandra Rimkute-Jankuviene, Judita Kiaulakite, Ilze Valce and Aigars Meri.
Baltic Unity Day is celebrated in honor of the Battle of the Sun in 1236 – a significant event in the history of the Baltic peoples, symbolizing the courage and unity of the ancestors of Latvians and Lithuanians. Baltic Unity Day has been officially celebrated in both Latvia and Lithuania since 2000, reminding us of the common roots of the two peoples.
The central event of the Baltic Unity Day concert will be a performance of a renewed version of the oratorio “From the Land of the Latvians” by composer Jēkabs Jančevskis, honoring the historical events that intertwined the destinies of the two nations. The concert will feature a tribute to the prominent Lithuanian composer and painter Konstantin Mikolaj Čiurlionis, whose 150th anniversary is celebrated this year, as well as Latvian and Lithuanian folk songs.
Jēkabs Jančevskis’ oratorio “From the Land of the Latvians” is a musical monument to the history of the Baltic peoples, which tells the story of the common roots of Latvians and Lithuanians through eight movements. The composition is centered around the story of Marta (Morta), the wife of Lithuania’s first crowned king Mindaugas, from our land, from the Madelans of Latgale. Marta’s life path symbolizes the mutual connection between the two peoples. The authors of the story are Eva Mārtuža and Zane Jančevskis, and the author of the poem is Lelde Stumbre. The oratorio weaves together historical patriotic themes, as well as the opposition of masculinity and femininity – men’s pursuit of power and women’s longing for peace in order to preserve their family.
Historical documents state that the coronation of Mindaugas and Martha took place on July 1253, 6. This work is a tribute to the ancestors of our people in the past and the unity, friendship of the Baltic peoples in the present and in the future. Mindaugas was a Lithuanian ruler and king, known for uniting the Lithuanian lands into one state and fighting against the Order of the Sword Brothers. People say that Mindaugas died in Aglona, because on the way to his wife's parents, he and his two sons were killed by conspirators. Mindaugas' grave is probably located under the Aglona Basilica, where there was a cemetery in the 13th century. In the 17th century, the Lutheran priest Rīvijs created a chronicle, which mentions that in Aglona, when demolishing an unknown building that resembled a tower, a marble slab was found, on which there was an inscription in Latin that the Lithuanian ruler Mindaugas was buried here. On September 2015, 20, a monument to Mindaugas and Marta was unveiled in Aglona.
The grand concert “FROM THE LAND OF LETU. Baltic Unity Day” features the Klaipėda Culture Center women's choir “Dange”, Vilnius University women's choir “Virgo”, Gruodis Conservatory mixed choir, women's choir “Pavasaris”, mixed choirs “Gaudeamus”, “Silale”, “Atzalynas”, conductors Rasa Gelgotiene, Regina Maleckaite, Sandra Rimkute-Jankuviene, Judita Kiaulakite, Ventspils Culture Center mixed choir “Līvzeme”, SIA “Kurzemes filharmonija” mixed choir “Ventspils”, Ventspils Culture Center women's choir “Venda”, RTU Liepāja Academy women's choir “Atbalss”, Ventspils Culture Center mixed choir “Kaiva”, Liepāja Folk Art Culture Center mixed choir “INTIS”, conductors Ilze Valce, Rudīte Tālberga, Astra Plostniece, Ginta Rūse and Aigars Meri.
On September 14 at 19.00:XNUMX PM, a Baltic Unity Day concert with the joint Latvian and Lithuanian choir will be performed in Klaipėda, at the Cultural Center “Žveju rūmai”.
The concerts are supported by the State Cultural Capital Foundation, Ventspils City Municipality, Ventspils Culture Centre, Liepāja Folk Art and Culture Centre, the Lithuanian State Council for Culture and the Lithuanian Choir Union.
Photography and video recording are possible during the event. The obtained materials will be used for publicity purposes of the event, on the website and social media accounts of the concert hall "Latvija".
