LNSO New Year's Concert Symphonic Fado

29 December at 6:00 PM

Gisela João - vocals

Aurelia ŠIMKUS - piano

Conductor Rui Miguel MARQUES

Program:

Antonín DVORÁK - overture “Carnival”

Manuel DE FALLA - two suites from the ballet “The Three-Cornered Hat”

Franz LISZT - “Spanish Rhapsody”

fado music

GISELA JOÃO is one of Portugal's strongest voices - authentic and emotionally rich. Aurelia ŠIMKUS delights not only Latvia, but all of Europe, and has received many internationally significant awards, while the astonishingly talented conductor Rui Miguel MARQUES has, at only twenty-two years old, already worked with world-class orchestras.

Dvořák's overture “Carnival” evokes the feeling of a solitary, contemplative wanderer who gets lost in a city at the center of carnival. It is an uplifting and exhilarating composition. Falla's emotionally charged suites awaken the imagination with Andalusian, passionate motifs and vivid fandango. Liszt's “Spanish Rhapsody”, one of the composer's best-known works, drew inspiration from traditional Spanish folk music, and its performance demands virtuosic elegance. But the poignant music of fado needs no introduction.

*Preschool children are not admitted to the concert.