(Credit: Karlis Volkovskis)

The Berliner Philharmoniker will perform the annual Europakonzert in Latvia instead of Ukraine.

The orchestra said, “This year’s concert celebrating the orchestra’s 140th anniversary was originally scheduled to take place at the Odesa National Academic Opera. Due to the attack on Ukraine, another venue has had to be found.”

“The Berliner Philharmoniker and chief conductor Kirill Petrenko are very grateful to the team of the Great Amber Concert Hall in Liepāja, Latvia, that this year’s Europakonzert can be held there at such short notice. It is a show of solidarity with Odesa and Ukraine and for peaceful coexistence in Europe. Together with the Latvian mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča, a new program has been created that focuses on composers whose musical message is about freedom and self-determination.”

The program features music by Pēteris Vasks, Luciano Berio, Valentyn Silvestrov, Leoš Janáček, and Jean Sibelius. Audiences not in Latvia can follow live in the Digital Concert Hall. The Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg will broadcast the concert live on TV (Das Erste) and on radio (rbbKultur) on May 1, 2022 at 11am. The concert is a co-production of EuroArts with rbb, NHK, CCTV and Latvian television LTV.