Rodion Shchedrin and Maya Plisetskaya who arrived to Riga especially for this performance were given an ovation.
After the performance, a reception was held on behalf of Rietumu Bank in honour of the Artistic Director of the Mariinsky Theatre Valery Gergiev, soloists, musicians and the special guests – Maya Plisetskaya and Rodion Shchedrin. The reception was attended by over 200 persons, including recognised artists, influential politicians and entrepreneurs from Latvia, Russia and other countries. 
“The Riga premiere of The Enchanted Wanderer has become a part of the programme “European Capital of Culture – Riga 2014”; it is taking place within the framework of the Latvia-Russia cultural exchange and is completing the three-year-long guest tour programme of the Mariinsky Theatre in Latvia. It has been possible thanks to the support of the Ministry of Culture of Russia, the Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia, Riga Municipality and Uralchem company,” said the organiser of the guest tour, CEO of the Art Forte company Julija Locmele, “And I am very pleased that the event took place this year, when Riga is the European Capital of Culture. I am sure that this successful project will give new impetus to our cooperation and that we will have many more wide-scale and interesting undertakings further on as well.”
The performance at the Latvian National Opera drew a capacity audience. The soloists were Kristina Kapustinskaya, Sergei Aleksashkin, Andrei Popov; the conductor was Valery Gergiev.
With Rietumu Bank support, an open broadcast of The Enchanted Wanderer was organised during the performance on a big screen in the park in front of the Opera. About 400 seats were installed at the makeshift concert venue, where all of those interested could enjoy the performance of the famous theatre for free.
Upon the completion of the premiere performance, a reception was held on behalf of Rietumu Bank in the New Hall of the Opera with the participation of Rodion Shchedrin, Maya Plisetskaya, Valery Gergiev, soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre and numerous VIP guests from Latvia, Russia and other countries. The reception was attended by the Director of the Latvian National Opera Zigmars Liepins, the Ambassador of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Latvia Alexander Veshnyakov, the Mayor of Riga Nil Ushakov, the Mayor of Sochi Anatoly Pakhomov, the President of the World Choir Games Gunter Titsch, the General Director of Uralchem Dmitry Konyaev, the Managing Director of the Freeport of Riga Leonid Loginov, the Deputy Chairman of the Rietumu Bank Council Arkady Suharenko, the Chairperson of the Board of the Rietumu Charity Fund Inga Sina and other recognised artists, politicians and entrepreneurs.
The guests were greeted by the Member of the Rietumu Bank Council Alexander Gafin, who noted a high level of cultural cooperation between Latvia and Russia. “I would like to specially greet the Ambassador of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Latvia Alexander Veshnyakov and the world culture emissary Maya Plisetskaya, who is loved in all countries of the world,” said Mr Gafin, “It is not only a great honour and pleasure for us to see such eminent guests here and listen to the music performed by one the best theatres of the world. I would like to emphasise that a project of such a high level is also a high-quality mark of the existing cultural and humanitarian links between Latvia and Russia which must be retained and developed. This guest tour bears a wide positive symbol and we will do everything we can to support the high level of cultural exchange between our countries.”
As a memento of the premiere and the trip to Latvia, on behalf of Rietumu Bank Mr Gafin presented an in-life portrait of the famous Latvian ballet dancer Maris Liepa to Maya Plisetskaya, and also gave historical photos of Riga made in the 20s of the last century to Rodion Shchedrin and Valery Gergiev as a gift.
The opera, based on the story The Enchanted Wanderer by Nikolay Leskov, was composed by Rodion Shchedrin on the orders of the American director Lorin Maazel, and is devoted to him. On 19 October, 2002 the New York philharmonic orchestra premiered the concert opera under the direction of Maazel in the Avery Fisher Concert Hall in New York. The Enchanted Wanderer was first performed in Russia in 2007 in the recently opened Mariinsky Theatre Concert Hall on the initiative of Valery Gergiev. A year later, a stage version by stage director Aleksey Stepanyuk and art director Aleksandr Orlov was premiered. The Mariinsky Theatre performance was rewarded with the National Prize “Golden Mask” (best actress – Kristina Kapustinskaya, best composer – Rodion Shchedrin) and is still shown in St. Petersburg. Eleonora Gailisha Mass Media and Public Relations
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