I will be hearing two more singers this morning – one competitor for Neue Stimmen who was unwell yesterday so we will catch up with her. And the other the Latvian tenor Aleksandrs Antonenko who sings Herman in the production of Queen of Spades which is part of the repertoire of this excellent opera festival in Riga which I have been fortunate enough to coincide with.
Tosca last night
was splendidly conducted by Andris Nelsons – a commanding performance and
remarkable for a 26 year old.
This jewel
of an opera house, a small horse shoe with orchestra plus three tiers, holds just
970 seats, and needless to say is rather filled by the Puccini score. But just wait – they are preparing the Ring. That will be a knock out in this house. The stage is 40 foot wide and so quite compact
too. There is a substantial orchestra
pit of course. The theater has been splendidly
renovated both front of house and backstage. With the quality of work that they are capable of under the present
leadership this could be a very attractive new destination on the cultural
tourism circuit.
One moment of light comedy last night – the tenor was so enthusiastic in taking his bows that he fell into the prompt box. Oh well, tenors will be tenors……….
I should have time to go to see some more of the remarkable
Art Nouveau buildings which are such a feature of this city. 
This is the street where I found the Berlin house yesterday. But there is much more
to see – and a visit to the Museum of the Occupation, Latvia’s
history from 1940 to 1991, will somehow be fitted in. Russians and Germans are not greatly loved
here – Brits and Americans appear to be and English is certainly the lingua franca, seemingly as widely and almost
as well spoken as in the Scandinavian countries. The "de-Russification" of Latvia
has taken a remarkably short time.
If any of my dear readers are interested in coming to Riga you will be comfortably housed at the Hotel Bergs – completely to be recommended. Tourism has not taken any significant hold here yet – so come while the going is good, few crowds and fantastic value for money. And the fish is a best buy, superbly prepared sea bass for $6!
I fly to Vilnius late this afternoon.
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