Scholarly record

A TICKET FROM PERIPHERY TO THE OPERATIC UNIVERSE: WAGNER’S “RING” BY LATVIAN NATIONAL OPERA

L. Mellena-Bartkevica

Abstract

The “Ring” cycle by Richard Wagner marked the bicentenary of the composer in Riga, the city he used to live and work for few years between 1837-39, bringing back the Latvian capital to the Wagnerian geography with contemporary opera productions staged between 2006 and 2013. The aim of the paper is to summarize the impact of the “Ring” project to the operatic culture of Latvia, to the international career development of young Latvian artists and cultural branding of Latvia, Riga and Latvians, showing the progressing Latvian artistic potential in the European context. The paper is based on materials of the current PhD thesis in progress by the author. The methodology of the research combines hermeneutical analysis of the productions of the four operas based on documentary protocols of the performances, reviews and related publications with the observations and interviews on career development of the involved Latvian artists during the years of the production of the “Ring” and later. The research shows that the “Ring” project facilitated a notable development of artistic capacity of Latvian musicians and other involved artists, stimulated the international networking of Latvian National Opera and raised the public awareness of musical and cultural life in Riga locally and internationally. The paper also summarizes the positive outcomes of one of the most ambitious projects by Latvian National Opera in a sociocultural perspective and outlines the new challenges for future national cultural policy.

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DOI resolver: doi.org/10.5593/SGEMSOCIAL2017/HB61/S16.54

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