Music in the Streets

Street musicians are an occasional site in many US cities. Here in Riga they’re a daily source of walking-music in and around the parks and streets of Old Riga. This morning, for example, on our way to church we were serenaded with an accordion version of “Hernando’s Hideaway” as we crossed the main plaza near the Freedom Monument. His right foot, with a beer can filled part way with small pebbles attached keeps the beat. Even before the sound has died away, we hear the plaintive strains of “Summertime” played by the trumpeter in the small park behind the amber sellers and their carts of wares—no accompanying foot tapping beat in this case. On our return through the square, in her usual spot in front of a store front across from the amber sellers is the small, but surprisingly spry and energetic, grandmotherly woman, dressed in native garb, dancing, by herself, to folk tunes playing on her small boom box. We thought at first she might be some kind of advertisement for the store, but that’s clearly not the case. She’s just there, dancing regularly whenever it’s not raining hard. One other regular performance is provided by two young girls, one certainly still a teen; perhaps both. They were absent today, but usually play classical music—Bach, Mozart, Vivaldi. The older plays the cello, the younger the violin. In each instance there’s an instrument case out for the occasional coin provided by passersby. The variety and texture of the music here is a wonderful tapestry reflective in many ways of the culture and traditions of the country, as well as the more recent movement for the restoration of independence. “The Singing Revolution” is the name of a book and a recent documentary. It is also the commonly used name for events between 1987 and 1990 that led to the regaining of independence of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuanian (Wikipedia). Singing folk songs, citizens of the 3 Baltic countries formed a human chain linking their capitols against the tanks of the Russian army. Here in Riga the musical tradition continues, in concert halls and cathedrals and in the music of the street musicians we hear daily.
rej

Latvian National Opera

On October 11 Bob and I attended the Latvian National Opera's new production of Carmen with world renowned Latvian born mezzo soprano Elina Garanca....amazing. I had never been to an opera but am familiar with the music and story line of Carmen, well what a gala production. The production is new this season and the premiere was earlier in October. The Theater was not as large as symphony hall in Boston and we had wonderful seats in the loge area second row. The seats were velveteen covered with wooden carved backs and armless chairs in the loge area. The theater is ornate and gilded absolutely wonderful. From the loge we could look down on the stage, the orchestra pit and the main floor seating area. It had had it's own cafe refreshment area with tables and chairs as wellas a separate coat check area. The production was wonderful. It was presented as taking place in Cuba. The program notes said the Habanera is actually a Cuban/African rhythmic dance that was all the rage in Europe at the time Bizet composed the opera. Bizet refused to visit Spain but the librettist did. When it was first written the musciains of the symphony said the score was impossible and the actors were shocked they were expected to dance as well as sing. To say the least the opera was not well received in Bizet's time. But in Riga it was wonderful. The curtain was a Cuban flag, Act I was a busy street scene in Cuba outside the cigar factory. There were school boys with their red neck kerchiefs as well as a full chorus of street vendors and soldiers. Act II a tavern with neon lights and a picture of Che behind the bar. Escamilio was a boxer, so the toreador was translated "fighter" and all the words and the fans and the adoration fit. The third act was the waterfront in Havana with the painted sunset of Havana with it’s sky line of tall buildings and the wall, the Malecon, mid stage. The Gypsies were bandits/smugglers assembling a make shift float/raft to put into the water to pick up their take. Act 4 was outside a sports arena....Escamilio's boxing trunks were the Cuban flag design. The music was wonderful, the singling amazing, the costumes and staging fantastic. It was great. I spoke with another woman who had seen the opera earlier this month and she thought because of the different staging and taking the opera all the beauty was gone, there were no Gypsies, or toreador or Spanish costumes. We were prepared for the differences. I really enjoyed the "new" interpretation and as everyone has said Elina Garanca is an actress, a dancer and a marvelous singer. We are so fortunate to be able to attend this production of Carmen featuring her since she only gave three performances.

October Roberts teaches in Smiltene and Daugavpils

Bob has taught the Ethics in social work course in Riga for three groups and has taken it "on the road" to branch campuses of Attistiba in Smiltene and in Daugavpils and today he is in Rezekne. Smiltene is a small village of about one hour north east of Riga dating back to 1359. We stayed at a guest house on the grounds of a local technical school and ate in the cafeteria for lunch, scene above and at the guest house for breakfast and dinner. It is in a lovely location of a former manor/estate set on a hill above the village. Attistiba provides Bob with a driver and an interpreter so the logistics of the trip are very smooth. The photo above shows the guys when we stopped at a kafejnica . Daugavpils, as you can tell from the photo of the Russian Orthodox Church, is influenced by its proximity to Belarus. We stayed in a lovely hotel, one year old, with internet connections and a fine restaurant. The menu showed the Russian influence with beet soup and stuffed cabbage. Even the bottled water came from Georgia, a former soviet republic. Daugavpils is the second largest city in Latvia. We had hoped to visit a former fortress built to repel Napoleon's armies on their way to Moscow but the time and weather didn't cooperate. However it is visible on google earth and we could see the vast size and evidence of the earthen works. The drive along the Daugava River on the return to Riga was scenic with the sun setting over the river and the evidence of fall in the color in the leaves.

Street Scene in Riga

Parallel Parking—Riga Style
Parking space in Riga is as tight as almost any place in the world. Think Boston on a Red Sox or Celtics game day or UNH almost any Monday through Thursday class day. Riga is a city of almost one million people, just under half the population of the country. The Old Town, like some parts of Boston, consists of small, narrow streets with no on-street parking. Unlike Boston, there are no public parking garages that we’ve seen anywhere in the city. Until independence was reestablished here 15 years ago, there were significantly fewer personal automobiles in the country. Since independence auto sales in Latvia, including many high end vehicles, have boomed. Parallel parking is often a challenge even for those of us with lots of driving experience. Have you ever tried to sideslip into a parallel space that was just a bit too short for the vehicle? Oh, add to the picture an absence of parking meters and no clearly demarcated, white-lined spaces on these streets. Rigans do pay for parking—there are ticket boxes every half-block or so, but nothing to designate one space from the next. So, when faced with this situation, here’s the Riga approach. Pull up next to the car either in front of or just behind the space you’ve decided to occupy. Angle the car headfirst into the space if you’re approaching from behind, or back into the space from the front so that in either case one wheel of your vehicle goes 3-5 feet up onto the sidewalk. If there’s room, proceed in drive and reverse to move the vehicle into a parallel position. If the space is small, leave the car angled with one corner a few feet onto the sidewalk. The accompanying picture illustrates the technique. They do use wheel “boots” for illegally parked cars, a gaudy hot pink color, but I’ve yet to see one on an angled-in “parallel-parked” car.
rej