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The Latvian National Opera with Richard Wagner featuring amongst its founding fathers is indisputably the main venue in the country.
The Russian Drama Theatre will offer a fascinating cultural experience to the Russian-speaking tourists. It is noteworthy that in many productions maestro Raimond Pauls performs his music himself. It was in the Russian Drama Theatre that the actress Maria Naumova – a winner of the Eurovision Song Contest – began her career and Peter Stein staged The Seagull starring Nika Plotnikova – known to the audience from her performance at the Novaya Volna (New Wave) festival in 2003.
The history surrounding the National Opera is more than 250 years long. During the period of time from 1837 to 1839 Richard Wagner was the chapel-master of Riga, and was involved in opera life. The current theatre, affectionately known as “The White House” was built as a national theatre in 1863, on the site of an old German theatre. After a fire in 1882, the theatre was rebuilt to its current state. The theatre become the National Opera House in 1919, and the National Theatre moved elsewhere.
Latvia houses the world’s oldest Russian theatre outside of Russia, and the theatre is more than 120 years old, with a rich tradition of acclaimed theatrical performances and celebrity.
This modern Latvian theatre offers exceptional dramatic performances, primarily in the Latvian language, though occasionally in Russian as well. The second theatre offers a variety of exceptional amateur productions that appear anything that amateur, from belly dancing to flamenco and beyond.
Vivid performances in which the latest achievements of puppet art are combined with elements of mime shows, drama and even musical will be exciting both for children and adults.
This theatre reopened in 2004 after a complete restoration.
This theater is situated in former Soviet youth theatre building. Modern and progressive directors perform their plays here. Tickets sell out fast.
