“Honestly, I’m enjoying this moment and these last weeks with all my heart, as long as it’s summer and as long as I can spend them with my son, who is now a year and four months old,” says Latvian National Theater actress and certified director Marija Berzina, adding with a smile that this summer is now a good time.
But she still has time for various creative projects, and at the end of August Maria will again join her vocal colleagues on the stage of the Dzintari concert hall. “True, I would also like to go mushroom picking, because mushroom season is already starting on the Libyan coast. I also want to read a non-professional fiction book. These are my tasks for the next three weeks,” the actress admits.
Sings at the anniversary of Limbazi
For her, the tradition of participating in the Libyan festival, which takes place every year on the first Saturday of August, is very important, “and I always participate in them in one way or another and in different formats.” Maria continues: “Just during the holiday, we showed one of my performances, which I would rather call a performance – a lecture “Līvõd vērmõd” (“Libyan colors / In the footsteps of the Libyan flag”). This is a musical-historical digression, telling about the origin of the Libyan flag. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Libyan flag – as well as the Livonian Union, so last year we created a show to celebrate this fact, which we have now brought to the Libyan coast. While working on the series, I really had to seriously think about how interesting it is to present historical facts and not tire the audience. The author and producer of the idea, Monta Kwiatkowska, provided me with the sheet music of the composer Emil Melngailis. Then, a hundred years ago, he traveled around Kurzeme, talked with storytellers and collected folklore. And his notes are so “tasty” that it was clear that this text should be taken as a basis and this story should be told through it. For the role of the Blackbird, I invited my former colleague, the talented actor Jekab Reinis, a student at the conservatory and an opponent of the Blackbird, played by the conductor of the Libyan choir “Loya” and my wife Jirts Gailitis; The show also features guitarist Rihards Libietis, who, as it turns out, does indeed have Libyan roots. So, on the first evening of the holiday, we performed this production, and the next evening there was a festive concert, which was directed by the composer Janis Kirsis and which I composed the text. We also welcomed the President of the Republic, Edgars Rinkevich, who also came to visit the Libyans. It was a really beautiful event!”
At the same time, Maria laughs that her creative work does not stop her, because the very next day she went to Limbazhi to please the locals: “I participated in the final concert of the celebration of the 800th anniversary of Limbazhi together with wonderful musicians Valtas and Valters Puces. . Indeed, cooperation with Valta is very important and necessary for me, and I hope that it will someday continue. Now we meet very rarely, but our joint concerts are charming. So, the weekend was very busy for me, and I still haven’t really recovered … But all this is the work of my heart, because now the main thing for me is to spend as much time as possible with my son. .”
Will work with his first director
“And very soon I will have to return to the theater … To be honest, I don’t even really know how it will be, because I got out of his rhythm. When I saw the schedule for September and October, I almost fell because I don’t understand how it is – two attempts a day. It will be a productive autumn,” the actress laughs and adds, “I hope after two months of hard work she will have a break again. “I am very happy to return to Regnar Vivar, whom I consider my first director. I have always had a really wonderful relationship with him I think it was in the third year of the Academy of Culture where I was studying to be an “actor” and he noticed me during a speech exam.That day I was completely sick, I had a serious temperature, but I went to the exam, although I don’t remember what and how I arranged it… However, after this exam, Regnar took me to the first lead role in the film, the performance of the National Theater “Galka Matalka” in 2005.”
Maria does not say anything about the role she will play in Regnar Vaivara’s upcoming new production “Suņu ciema Nelaimes lacis” (based on Lars von Trier), but admits that working with Vaivara is extremely interesting. “Sometimes he’s so ‘spacey’ that it’s hard to catch him… I really like his interesting way of thinking, and this will again be a challenge, because he made me a very extreme proposal. Let’s see how I can handle it. It’s physically hard to work with him, because Regnar is always very tiring for actors, but emotionally easy. Therefore, I think it will be an interesting experience. ” It is also known that Maria will play in a remake of the play “Silver Skates” directed by Edmund Freiberg, where she will again take on the role of the Author.
Looking forward to returning to future vocalists
Maria knows less about the performances in which she will play in the spring, but she definitely plans to return to the Academy of Music, “where I am already waiting, because I have been teaching vocal acting there for the third year. Now my charming colleague Anna Klevere replaces me there, but I would really like to return there in the spring, because this is also quite an interesting job.” It turns out that Maria got a position as a teacher at the Academy of Music by chance: “Once a girl, a very good opera singer, turned to me to pass her graduation exam. Although I claimed that I had no experience in this area and at that time I had not yet completed my master’s degree in directing at the Academy of Culture, she insisted that she wanted me. I passed the diploma exam, the girl got a very good mark, and then she said – I think you will be invited to work at the academy … That’s what happened. So now I am there too, and one of those who persuaded me to go to work at the academy and with whom I worked there was my colleague Inara Slutska.”
For the concert will look for special pearls
Along with other works, Maria agreed to take part in the final concert of the rally of singing actors “One seat on the deer is still free”, which will take place in Dzintari in the last days of August. “Colleagues invited me as a special guest, I gladly accepted. I also have ideas about what to sing; I suggested them to concert director Dita Lurina and she liked them. We have yet to meet and try our hand musically.”
Maria admits that she does not like to drill the same thing all the time: “I like to look for new pearls! And not modern, but those who have not sung before. So I remembered this from Uldas Stabulnieks, from Valtas Puces and Juras Karlsons, who once wrote beautiful music for the performances of the Daile Theatre. So there might be some surprise in this concert.”
Management and logistics – everyday life
When asked who will be tasked with looking after her son while she is busy with a lot of work, Maria replies: “We hope to get through this year on our own. Geert has a freer morning so he and the boy can be together in the morning, in the evening both grandmothers will probably come to the rescue and my goddaughter is a professional babysitter. We do not want to send him to kindergarten yet, because the boy is too small for this … In a year – then yes.
Maria laughs that now she knows perfectly well that management and logistics are the daily life of young mothers. “I’m really starting to understand how it’s going to be, because it doesn’t make it any easier.” When circles and school begin, then I can run from morning to evening to your laughter … But this is already beauty. Of course, this is worrisome, because at some point you may miss something or something will not fit; Of course, children also get sick, and these are unpredictable things. But it’s beautiful!