Thanks for reading the first issue of Baltic Reports: Weekend Edition.
At Baltic Reports we’re going to be offering a lot more entertainment coverage from now on in addition to our usual hard-hitting news and business news articles with our weekend edition.
This will include our regular entertainment features, listings (which you can find below), social life photos and documentary photos.
Vilnius will be mobbed for Street Musician's Day, but it's definitely worth braving the crowds for the endless amount of live music being played.
The biggest event happening in the Baltics this weekend is Street Musician’s Day in Vilnius, which runs all day Saturday from noon until sunset. Why does it start at noon? Because they’re musicians.
There are hundreds of acts playing in two-slot intervals, with everything from techno DJs to indie rock bands to world music troupes to dance ensembles, and I won’t lie to you, it’s always been a favorite event of the Baltic Reports staff based in Lithuania, a country that’s a hotbed of undernourished musical talent — read more on that here.
A full schedule, unfortunately available in Lithuanian only as they still have yet to update the English version of their website from last year less than one day before the event, is available here.
Here’s a list of other events happening over the next week:
LITHUANIA
Camerata Klaipėda
April 30, 6 p.m.
“Camerata Klaipėda”
Klaipėda Concert Hall, Klaipėda
As part of the 35th Klaipėda Music Spring festival, this hard-touring, 13-strong string orchestra plays home turf together with two talented Lithuanian soloists. The program, mysteriously called Transfigured Night, features music by Vivaldi and Paganini as well as the contemporary Lithuanian composer Feliksas Bajoras.
Spirit Catcher
April 30, 10 p.m.
Spirit Catcher
Club Gravity, Vilnius
Sexy grooves and sublime keyboards make this Belgian duo a highly sought-after live act for thumping deep house and techno clubs like Gravity, an unremittingly industrial former atomic bunker in central Vilnius.
Kęstutis Grigaliūnas: Death Diaries
Until May 9
Kęstutis Grigaliūnas: Death Diaries
Contemporary Art Center, Vilnius
An exhibition making use of the kind of “mug-shot” photography used during the terrifying first Soviet occupation between June 1940 and June 1941, Death Diaries opens a window into the shattered lives of the victims of torture, execution and deportation to Siberia. The question arises: can this be art?
May 3, 7 p.m.
From Tonadilla to Romance
St Catherine’s Church, Vilnius
Soprano and classical guitar blend in an enchanting performance of Spanish theatrical songs known as tonadilla and Russian Romance, a genre of sentimental ballads typically played on acoustic guitar and sung with longing and nostalgia. There will be uplifting and comedic songs, but hopefully also some sweet-and-sorrowful ones too.
Giunter Percussion
May 6, 6 p.m.
Giunter Percussion
Klaipėda Concert Hall, Klaipėda
Founded by Pavel Giunter in Lithuania in 1995, this popular ensemble has taken part in festivals worldwide and performs high-octane jazz, pop and classical renditions of Lou Harrison, Tan Dun and the like. “Contrasts of Spring” is the title of tonight’s performance.
LATVIA
Latvia national hockey team
April 30, 7:30 p.m.
Ice hockey: Latvia vs. Belarus
Riga Arena, Riga
Ever seen ice hockey played in Latvia? Virtually everybody goes insane. They will again this weekend when the national team plays Belarus in the run-up to the Ice Hockey World Championships in Germany later in May.
Otra Puse
April 30, 8:30 p.m.
Otra Puse
Barons Club, Riga
Expect ephemeral but bouncy pop from this emerging Latvian group, whose name tantalizingly but somewhat disingenuously means “the other side”. They’re on a spring tour through Latvia’s small-scale clubs and bars.
May 1, 9 p.m.
Balkanizacija
The Bakery, Riga
The Balkanization in question refers to the fast-paced, brass-pumping, gipsy-inspired music that’s irresistible for chaotic dancing. Balkan beats disc-spinner DJ Pontell from Israel and gipsy punk Leto Magenta from St Petersburg bring the evening to a sweaty climax, with warm-up provided by jazz-funk outfit Dandelion Wine and easy-listening electronica from Sun Quay.
World Champions
Until May 1
“World Champions”
Riga Galerija, Riga
This weekend is your last chance to see this in-your-face display of contemporary Russian art from the 1990s, from a private collection, in which humor, grotesque imagery and self-irony smother four floors of this city-center gallery.
April 30, 9 p.m.
AgniA
Crystal Night Club, Riga
Pop stars seem to get younger every day. AgniA was born on Valentine’s Day in 1994, a day most adults can actually remember. Hailing from the Latvian sand-and-pine resort of Jurmala, this little cutie is already being promoted by the Finnish company Amber Production for performing “a hot mix of high-end rock charged with the energy and sincerity of a young singer”. Does her mother approve?
www.amberproduction.com/artists
ESTONIA
DJ Stranger
May 1, 10 p.m.
DJ Stranger
Club Hollywood, Tallinn
The tsar of Russian techno comes to the Estonian capital to steer one of the party events of the spring into wild abandon. Come skimpily clad.
Jazztronik
April 30, 10 p.m.
Jazztronik
Rock Café, Tallinn
A free-form music project from Japan, Jazztronik blends traditional bebop and dancefloor jazz with elements of bossanova, nu jazz and house. Some of his compositions have won international hit status, endorsed by leading DJs such as Gilles Peterson.
Concha Buika
May 1, 4 p.m.
Concha Buika
Nokia Concert Hall, Tallinn
All sorts of metaphors come to mind when you hear Concha Buika’s voice — blood-red wine, a cry of pain in a darkened church… The Spanish singer sees her musical wanderings as part of a quest: “My voice is older than me. She was waiting for me.”
Avishai Cohen Aurora
May 1, 7 p.m.
Aurora Project
Nokia Concert Hall, Tallinn
Avishai Cohen Quintet, an Israeli-American outfit, share their passion for jazz with everyone who goes to see them, electrifying the audience at each performance. Aurora is a work of synergy under the acclaimed Blue Note label.
Until August
“Čiurlionis and His Time in Lithuanian Art”
Kumu Art Museum, Tallinn
This is the first overview in Estonia of the great master of Lithuanian art M. K. Čiurlionis (1875–1911), who was also a talented composer, tortured genius and insomniac who died young from pneumonia. The unique symbolist feverishly recreated his musical ideas in his imaginative visual art.
This article is free to view. To read Baltic Reports’ subscription-only articles, click here.
