the operetta Judith

Judith is considered Lehár’s finest work and was also the composer’s personal favourite. It is authentic, emotionally profound, captivating and magnetic.  To mark the composer’s 155th birthday, the Operetta Theatre is staging it in Latvia for the first time in the history of musical theatre! It is conceived as a musical-opera.  

PLOT: The beautiful and untameable Judith feels trapped in her marriage to her husband Manuel. Everything changes in her life when she meets the charismatic Captain Octavio. Their passion is so powerful that Judith leaves her past behind and runs away with him.

Their love blossoms abroad—in a sun-drenched North African city. They dream, sing and love, but fate intervenes: Octavio must go to war. Left alone, Judith finds the strength within herself to become an artist. Her voice and extraordinary beauty make her a star and a celebrity at an elegant club, where patrons marvel at her dazzling talent. Yet beneath this glittering mask lies profound loneliness.

The sparkling and carefree Anita and her beloved Pierino enjoy life simply, tenderly and lightly; their relationship is filled with joy and humour, as well as dreams of a shared future.

Octavio - DAINIS SKUTELIS (tenor) or JURIS JOPE (tenor)

Conductor ATVARS LAKSTĪGALA, assistant conductor ARTŪRS PLAUDIS (conducting on 20 March and 14 April)
Director Gernot Kranner (Austria), assistant director Sonora Vaice
Choreographer Ieva Kemlere
Costume designer Aleksandra Brandner (Germany)
Costume designer and production manager Vita Radziņa
Set designer Herwig Libowitzky (Austria)
Video artist and set designer Ineta Sipunova
Lighting designer Ivars Vācers
Technical director for set design Ansis Gornavs

Translation by Evita Mamaja
Instrumentation by Paul Bernard Bernot
Creative director Agija Ozoliņa-Kozlovska