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Culture
‘Every Latvian is a born poet, everyone makes up verse and songs and can sing,’ Johann Kohl wrote about Latvia, in 1841. He had a point as, despite its years spent suppressed under Soviet rule, Latvian culture is alive and well. The years since 1991 have seen a renaissance of interest in and expression of Latvian cultural identity and this has been mirrored with new developments, such as the reopening of Riga’s Opera House. For most of the 20th century, Latvia was renowned as a centre of ballet excellence and the 1970s saw Riga revered for its avant-garde experimentalist theatre and cinema. Dainas is the traditional Latvian folk song that will occasionally be performed in Riga. The mournful ballad-type songs deal with universal themes of love, marriage and death.
There is currently no central bureau or half-price ticket booths, although, for some events, tickets can be bought from tourist information offices. The better hotels are also usually able to organise tickets. Most cultural events sell tickets at the door, although, depending on the event, they can also be secured in advance from the venue
The fortnightly Riga In Your Pocket and the monthly City Paper both have listings in English. These are available from newsagents and some hotels.
Music: The acoustics at Riga Cathedral Doma laukums 1 (tel: 721 3213), along with its famous organ, make this venue an obvious choice for big recitals, although the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra is housed in the Great Guild Hall, Amatu 6 (tel: 721 3798). Tickets for performances at Riga’s rebuilt Opera House, Aspazijas 3 (tel: 707 3777; fax: 722 8240; e-mail: mail@opera.lv; website: www.opera.lv) are available in advance. The Latvian National Opera are rapidly establishing a name for themselves on the world stage.
Theatre: Theatre in Riga dates back as far as the 13th century. During the 1970s, Riga was regarded as a centre of avant-garde exploration and some of this spirit still remains today. The main theatres include the Dailes Theatre, Brivibas 75 (tel: 727 0278), National Theatre (Nacionalais Teatris), Kronvalda 2 (tel: 732 2759), New Riga Theatre (Rigas Jaunais Teatris), Lacplesa 25 (tel: 728 0765; website: www.jrt.lv), and the Russian Drama Theatre (Krievu Dramas Teatris), Kalku 16 (tel: 722 4660).
Dance: The quality of the Riga Ballet (tel: 722 5803) is a legacy of the Soviet Union, when Riga’s ballet school was third in importance, after the Kirov and Bolshoi. The company has produced many major stars, including Mihail Baryshnikov, now a famous modern ballet star living in America, as well as Maris Liepa, who went on to star for the Bolshoi Ballet, and his son, Andris Liepa, who found his own slice of fame with the American Ballet Theater in 1989/90. The company performs at various venues around the city.
Film: Latvian cinema has grown in strength over the last few decades, with a series of award-wining documentaries. The 1990 European cinema prize, the Felix, was awarded to Jaunie laiki skérsielá or New Times at Crossroad Street (1988), the work of local filmmaker, I Seleckis. The Daile Cinema, Barona 31, and Kino, Lacplesa 52/54, both show films in English with Latvian or Russian subtitles. Palladium, Marijas 21, is the largest cinema in Riga.
Cultural events: Riga is a major cultural centre with many events taking place throughout the year. Gadatirgus is an annual arts festival in June, focusing on traditional Latvian arts and craft. The Folklore Festival is held in the first week of June, at the Open Air Ethnographic Museum, with explorations into traditional literature and song. The Midsummer Festival causes a mass exodus from the city, as the locals head to the countryside for some serious partying in June. The Riga Summer Festival, in July, brings an array of chamber and symphony orchestra performances at venues throughout the city. Two massive pan-Baltic festivals that come to Riga every few years are the Baltika International Folk Festival and the Folk Festival, which was last in Riga in 2001.
Literary Notes
Graham Greene’s Journey Without Maps (1936) delves deep into pre-war Riga. Letters from Latvia (1986), by Lucy Addison, is an illuminating diary of a 79 year old who refused the easy option of leaving Latvia at the outbreak of World War II and had to endure both the German and Soviet occupations as a result. Colin Thubron’s Among the Russians (1983) recounts his memorable drive through the pre-glasnost Soviet Union, including an adventure in Riga. Thubron’s style is at its best as he captures the nervy edge of the time. The Singing Revolution (1992), by Clare Thomson, refers in its title to one of the most remarkable events in modern European history, when citizens of all three Baltic States linked their three capitals together with their hands, in a massive show of solidarity against Soviet rule. The book is an account of her travels in the region in 1989 and 1990. The most comprehensive historical look at the events surrounding the revolutions of 1991 is by Anatol Lieven, in The Baltic Revolution (1994). This weighty tome cuts deeply into Latvian history, culture and modern politics. Other scholarly studies include The Baltic States: The Years of Independence 1917-40 (1995), by Georg von Rauch and The Baltic States: The Years of Dependence 1940-80 (1993), by Romualdas Misiunas and Rein Taagepera.One of the most controversial books around is The Holocaust in Latvia 1941-1944: The Missing Center (1997), by Andrew Ezergailis, which provides an insightful and balanced account of this provocative subject and addresses the ultra-sensitive issue of Latvian participation in the Holocaust. New Latvian Fiction (1998), is a patchy collection of contemporary Latvian writing, which provides an insight into today’s Latvian literary scene. The Dogs of War (2001), by Henning Mankell, is a gripping thriller that explores the dirty underbelly of Riga and its Mafia machinations.
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