The Journey of Mr. Brīviņi

On June 8 at 4:00 PM, an unprecedented event in Latvian cultural history will take place at the Andrejs Upīts Memorial Museum in Riga, Brīvības Street 38–4 – the performance “The Journey of Mr. Brīviņi”, marking the 80th anniversary of the novel “Green Earth”. The first chapter of the novel will be performed by actor Gundars Āboliņš and musician Guntars Freibergs, helping to overcome one of the greatest stumbling blocks in reading the novel.

The novel “Green Earth” (1945) is Andrejs Upīts' most translated and one of the most widely republished works in Latvian literature. At one time, the writer himself claimed that no tombstone should be placed for him, as his lifelong work – the novel “Green Earth” – is his monument.

“Depending on the context of the era, the novel has been called a “victory of Soviet literature” and later referred to as “the only work of socialist realism that will not fade into the annals of history”. The novel has been simultaneously criticized for the presence of ideological stances in its narrative and admired for its volume, unusual language, and the richness of its cultural and historical details. Generations of students have feared the novel for decades. Despite marginal opinions, “Green Earth” is undeniably a classic of Latvian literature,” says literary scholar Arnis Koroševskis, the chief specialist of the Andrejs Upīts Memorial Museum.

“Andrejs Upīts’ novel “Green Earth” was once included in the mandatory reading list for Latvian language courses in educational institutions, and it is precisely the first chapter of the novel, which is Mr. Brīviņi's journey through the Dīvaja parish spanning more than 35 pages, that is still cited as the greatest stumbling block in reading the work. Therefore, to mark the 80th anniversary of the novel “Green Earth”, we invite you to a unique performance – The Journey of Mr. Brīviņi, read by actor Gundars Āboliņš with musician Guntars Freibergs, thus challenging you to face one of the greatest fears and traumas of literature classes,” says the museum director Ilze Puķe.

Gundars Āboliņš is a beloved theater and film actor with many years of experience in producing the literary radio show cycle “Radio Little Reading Room”. Gundars Āboliņš was born in Riga to actors Vera Singajevska and Tālivalds Āboliņš. He studied at the People's Cinema Actor Studio, studied acting at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian State Conservatory in the Daile Theater 7th studio, worked at the Youth Theater under the direction of Ādolfs Šapiro, later returned to the Daile Theater, and since 2000, has been active at the New Riga Theater. For three years, he was a staff actor at the Munich Theater “Münchner Kammerspiele”. Gundars Āboliņš is also an actor in many striking film roles. He has translated several books from Russian and German. He has received the “Spēlmaņu nakts” award multiple times, including as Actor of the Year in 2006. He has been awarded the Harijs Liepiņš and Žanis Katlapa awards. In 2008, he received the Order of the Three Stars IV class.

Guntars Freibergs studied at the Moscow Central Music School in Mark Pekarsky's class after successful participation in the Moscow international TV competition “Nutcracker”. From 2007 to 2011, he studied at the Strasbourg Music Conservatory and obtained a master's degree at the Anton Bruckner University in Linz in 2014. He participated in masterclasses with percussion masters such as Keiko Abe, Momoko Kamiya, Bogdan Bacanu, and Peter Sadlo, and further honed his skills at the Salzburg Mozarteum Summer Academy and the Villecroze Academy in France. Guntars Freibergs has achieved success in many international competitions in Estonia, Lithuania, Russia, Italy, Bulgaria, and Austria. As a soloist, he has performed with the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonietta Riga Chamber Orchestra, the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, the South Bohemian Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, and others. He has been nominated multiple times for the Great Music Award in various categories and won it in 2022 for outstanding performance throughout the year.

Entrance fee: 5.00 euros.