With:
Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra
Reinis Zariņš, piano
Conductor Ainārs Rubiķis

Works by Richard Wagner, Pēteris Plakidis, Pēteris Vasks

Responding to an invitation from the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, Ainārs Rubiķis, music director and conductor of the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre, will take the stage in front of this orchestra at the beginning of summer 2015. The concert programme will feature Wagner’s symphonic poem, the Siegfried Idyll, and works by two Latvian composers.

Latvian music will be represented by two composers bearing the same name – Pēteris. One will be Pēteris Plakidis with the masterpiece composed in his early days, Music for Piano, Strings and Timpani. He is one of Latvia's most intelligent and talented composers. His music is crisp, laconic, teasing and ironic, masculine and sometimes playful, inspired by composers from previous decades but interpreted in a different way. The solo will be performed by a young Latvian pianist living in London, Reinis Zariņš. He is an architect of sounds who has a unique mind-set and brilliant technique, with an exceptional ability to paint the picture of each opus in great detail.

The other Pēteris will be Pēteris Vasks with his orchestral piece Viatore. This opus is devoted to Vasks’ peer Arvo Pärt. The name of the opus means ‘Traveller’, and music historian Arnolds Klotiņš sees this piece as depicting a person’s growth and reflcting the changes, development and fulfilment.

The winner of the Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition in 2010, Ainārs Rubiķis, is a new maestro who has become very popular throughout Europe. Alongside his work with the Novosibirsk Opera, he also conducts concerts in the United Kingdom, France, Poland and Germany, and opera performances in Japan. This season he will make his debut with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. He will also take part in the Mozart Week in Salzburg and perform with Royal Northern Sinfonia, the Gulbenkian Orchestra and the Orchestre National d’Île-de-France.

Entrance is free of charge. Seats can be booked on the Strasboug Philharmonique website.