Fighting as a partisan in the mythical Baltic past and in wars in 20th century Eastern Europe at the same time, Baņuta’s life is saved by weary and disenchanted Lithuanian prince, Daumants. Speeding away on a motorcycle, he brings the fighter back to his homeland in Romove, a holy Baltic site. There is about to be a wedding, but the preparations are interrupted by ravens. Their black feathers are a mirror for Daumants’ conscience and act as a reminder of his crime against Jargala, a girl he raped and killed. Soon Daumants falls in battle, and being a stranger in Romove, Baņuta is caught up in sacrificial rituals and revenge. However, she is strong-willed and will not bow to fate – no one will take her happiness away. A hundred years after the premiere of Alfrēds Kalniņš’ first Latvian opera Baņuta in 1920, comes the opera film Baņuta – an international project that melds opera, musical performances, the conditionality of the performing arts and contemporary performativity.
A wedding goes awry when the venue catches fire and the bride is dragged into the underworld. Only a kokle player is brave enough – and musical enough – to venture there and save her. With its mummers, imps, three-headed demon king and singing mole cricket, I Played, I Danced is a story like none other. Composed in 1977, Imants Kalniņš’s elaborate musical language is blended with Latvian folk to create a unique and moving soundworld. Leading young Latvian director Laura Groza-Ķibere and visual artist Miķelis Fišers bring out the wild energy of this opera in their new production that forces us to ask: How much should we fight the demons of the past while striving for a better future?
