My parents encouraged me to play piano and violin, and my mother especially was keen to take me to musical events, including the opera. I was about five when I was taken to Verdi's Rigoletto, and the old ladies behind me said, 'Why do the parents bring this young boy to the opera? He doesn't understand a thing. They were probably right, but I did cry at the end and I remember trying to copy the arias at home.
Robertino Loreti was one of my favourite singers, and I sang Italian songs in the hairdressers when I was a boy. They stood me on the chair and people queued to hear me sing 'O sole mio'! Also as a child, I was taken to organ concerts in Riga Cathedral. It took five long hours to get there, a two-hour concert and then five hours back late at night. When we recently had a state visit to Riga, they knew about this and they brought me to Riga Cathedral to hear the organ again.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der September 2023-Ausgabe von BBC Music Magazine.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der September 2023-Ausgabe von BBC Music Magazine.
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