# Baltic countries opera tour (Sept 2015)



## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

The objective of this tour is simple: An operatic jaunt through the 'Baltic States'. 3 countries, 3 days and 3 operas. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, or more specifically their capitals Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius. With flight connections variable, i.e. not daily, and operas not performed every night, the first task was to find a series of dates where operas and flights lined up. And so it was:
24th Sept, Tallinn, Estonia - Cardillac (Hindemith)
25th Sept, Riga, Latvia - Il Trovatore (Verdi)
26th Sept, Vilnius, Lithuania - Manon (Massenet)

I arrived on the 23rd in Tallinn. After a short bus ride from the airport, I had the time to see the Onegin ballet, but I was too pooped after two flights and a very early start. I settled for a nice meal and a couple of beers. I had the whole of the next day to explore Tallinn (pop. 400,000) which can be done on foot. This is a famous medieval gem. Though not exactly picture perfect, the cobbled streets and old building are appealling. It's a major tourist draw in summer, including stag parties from the UK and partying Helsinkians enjoying much cheaper drinks than at home. Alas it does give the impression of a place catering for people to get drunk amongst old building. After viewing the main sites, and taking in the sound of people tripping on uneven cobblestones (to which I contributed) I headed out to the new Seaplane Museum without seaplanes but housed in their copious hangar. It was chock full of Soviet military hardware, including a submarine. Not my thing really but it's a great museum and gets my stamp of approval thanks to the engrossing exhibit of Scott/Amundsen Antarctic expeditions. In the afternoon I went to the overrated KGB hotel exhibition. The tour guide rattles off the spiel to 20 people, shows some decrepit recording hardware, then you get to look at Tallinn from the 22nd floor. Nice but not essential.

Obligatory tourist bit over, now I'm set for the opera. The house is 20th century, sort of empire art deco. A siamese twin building with concert hall and opera house having their own matching frontages. It's a small theatre with 2 shallow curved balconies, 800 seats at most. I'm in mid-stalls.

The *Cardillac* production is modernish, somewhat abstract, all angles and raked floor, the performers dressed in baroque costumes with a modern fashion school twist. I'm not sure it was well sung or played, though Heli Veskus as 'The Lady' was notably good in her brief role. Voices were often lost in the unfocused orchestral melee.

Even with an intermission it was all over by 9pm. I headed across the road to Solaris, a modern shopping, eating and cinema complex with plenty of window seats overlooking the opera. Very handy for pre or post opera dining or snacks.

There's a full review (not by me) here:
https://bachtrack.com/review-cardillac-estonian-national-opera-may-2015

Next morning, I have a longish walk to the main bus station (or you can take a trolleybus) where my _Lux-Express_ bus awaits. Comfortable leather seats, lots of legroom, wi-fi, hot drinks and seat back entertainments systems all included. 200 movies, plus games, TV shows, music, even a library of TED lectures! An excellent transport option. We don't have anything like this in Britain. Four hours later I arrive in...

Riga, capital of Latvia and _Paris of the North_. This is one of the world's great Art Nouveau cities, but alas my rubbernecking time is limited by just an overnight stay. With its immaculate park and lake in the middle of the city, this place is elegant and relaxing.

In the evening I see *Il Trovatore*. The production was rather poor, updated to WWII or thereabouts, with the gypsies being some kind of militia? Trench coats, rifles, helmets etc. The singing was generally fine, but for the exceptional Azucena of Olesya Petrova. Every time she opened her mouth was a highlight, with a smooth, strong and really nice tone, giving no sense of the range difficulties this role presents to many. She was a Cardiff Singer of the World finalist in 2011.

I had a lovely chat over the intermissions with an elderly American couple sitting next to me. Except their accent wasn't fully American. Their families left Latvia in a hurry in 1945, as the Russians were coming in. He started to return in the 1990's and was able to reclaim some family land. He'd love to end his days in Latvia (going to operas every night), she'd rather be back in Chicago!

Next morning after an incredibly sumptuous hotel breakfast I head off to the bus station which is next to Riga's famous market. What sights and smells, mushrooms like small loaves of bread! A foodies paradise. But I have to get on my next Lux-Express bus for my 4 hour journey to Vilnius.

There's to be no movie for me on this journey. A friendly lady takes the seat next to me and offers me a boiled sweet. Visiting someone in Vilnius, I ask. Working, she replies. She is a producer and long time voice of Latvia's classical radio. Obviously it was a very interesting journey as we talked about everything from choral music to Pink Floyd LPs in 70's Russia, and some much more personal stuff. I hope we'll stay in touch. (added: We are).

Vilnius is a more classically styled European city with its baroque churches and buildings. My hotel is near the _Gates of Dawn_. Alas, Pink Floyd fans, no pipers there, just beggars. It's a catholic shrine these days.

The Vilnius opera house dates from the 1970's so this is a rather large Soviet era house, all brick and glass. But frankly it's nicer than the Soviet-era buildings we have in the UK!

The public areas are spacious with prominence as ever in Russian/North European houses given to the cloakrooms. I liked the bar areas, loads of fixed leatherette stools around many island bars. Plenty of space for everyone.

Most of the audience are in the comfy high-backed chairs of the steeply raked stalls. The balconies have some even more comfortable chairs (suitable for politburo members) for a little extra!

And so to *Manon*, one of Massenet's great works. This is the first outing of a new co-production with San Francisco. It's beautiful, all colour and light, reflections and shadows. Great costumes. Theatrical effects too, as when Manon floats down Mary Poppins-style clutching a bunch of colourful helium balloons, drawing audience applause.

The appreciative audience gave a standing ovation at the end. It was a fine evening, giving the kind of audiovisual treat people should expect at an opera. However I felt the singers were a little weak, Fabienne Conrad as Manon, didn't make me want to hear her Mimi or Butterfly, she seems more of an operetta singer. Her chemistry with de Grieux (Ho-Yoon Chung) never convinced - and alas, the last act left me unmoved.

Get this production in San Francisco with some great singers (e.g. Jaho) and it will surely be a big hit. Probably the best thing I've seen in quite some time.

The following day I have time to explore the compact old town. When the weather is fine, it's a great place to linger and stroll. Both the philharmonic hall and the opera house have regular sunday lunchtime family concerts. There was a jazz concert in President's Park which I was able to enjoy.

All that remains was the shuttle train to the airport, which takes 7 minutes, not because it's a bullet train but because it's just a couple of miles away. The ticket costs €0.80.

In summary, the trip couldn't have gone better. I saw some operas which whilst not world class performances were all in great building and surroundings. I enjoyed my brief touristic jaunts and would happily revisit all the cities.

The 3 day/country/opera tour works well although needs a lot of planning and stars aligning to get consecutive opera nights. Tallinn might work better as a twin-city trip with Helsinki, just an hour or two on the ferry across the Baltic. Vilnius could combine with nearby Minsk in Belarus, or Warsaw a little further.


----------

