Orchestra's new season with the world's leading cellists

On September 19, the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of conductor Guntis Kuzma, will open its 146th concert season at the "Lelais dzintars" concert hall, performing the music of Antonín Dvořák with German cellist Daniel Müller-Schot. On November 7, the orchestra will take to the stage of the "Lelais dzintars" together with Latvian cellist Margarita Balanas to perform the music of Edward Elgar.

At the opening of the 146th season, on September 19, the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra and its audience will be delighted to be reunited with German cellist Daniel Müller-Schot, who made his first appearance here at the Liepāja 400th International Stars Festival and performed Camille Saint-Saëns’ virtuoso First Cello Concerto at its opening concert. This time, the concert program includes one of the cornerstones of the cello repertoire – Antonín Dvořák’s Concerto for Cello and Orchestra.

"When Daniel Müller-Schot first played music with the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, playing Sensāns' Cello Concerto, we were immediately struck by his soulful, emotionally direct and timbrally colorful playing," says Guntis Kuzma, artistic director of the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra. "He breathed and phrased so organically with the orchestra, it seemed - the whole orchestra froze, following the finest details of the soloist's playing. I think the Liepāja audience fell in love with both his playing and his magnetic stage personality even then. Now, with great pleasure, we invite Daniel to return to Liepāja to play Dvořák's Cello concerto together. I am sure that together with him we will be able to discover both the emotional side of this work depth and its symphonic scope."

Daniel Müller-Schott is a world-renowned German cellist who regularly performs with the world's leading orchestras and is known for his brilliant technique and expressive interpretations.  The New York Times praises his “intense expressiveness” and describes him as “a fearless player with outstanding technique”.

The season opening concert will also feature Arthur Honegger's dramatic and existentially charged Symphonie Liturgique, conducted by Guntis Kuzma, while Juris Karlsons' new work "At sunrise" will have its world premiere.

The November 7 concert will focus on Edward Elgar's Concerto for Cello and Orchestra – the central opus of the composer's late work and one of the most significant pieces in the cello repertoire, performed by internationally renowned Latvian cellist Margarita Balanas, accompanied by the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra. Critics describe this musician as one of the most brilliant cellists of her generation.

We remind you that in the fall of 2025, together with her sister, violinist Kristīne Balanas, they became the first Latvian musicians to sign a cooperation contract with one of the most prestigious record companies in the world - Decca Classics.

“Elgar’s Cello Concerto demands from the soloist deep inner concentration, the ability to maintain dramatic tension and a personally open, grotesque expression. In my opinion, Margarita Balana’s playing possesses the dramatic power and intensity necessary for this work. Her interpretations always convey a rich timbral imagination, poetry and the ability to give meaning to each motif,” comments Guntis Kuzma. “Being also a conductor, Margarita creates the solo part as a living conversation with the orchestra. I am looking forward with great interest to how the nobility, lyricism and human warmth of this concerto will be revealed in her interpretation.”

This concert, conducted by British maestro Douglas Bostock, will feature the works of three early 20th-century British composers. In addition to the aforementioned Edward Elgar, the concert will also feature Ralph Vaughan-Williams' London Symphony and Gustav Holst's Fantastique Suite.

Tickets for the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra concerts can be purchased at “Biļešu paradīze” ticket offices.