Mežotne Palace to Host Its First Classical Music Concert
On 21 August, Mežotne Palace will present its first classical music concert, dedicated to Duchess Doroteja and her half-sister Elīza von der Recke.
Mežotne Palace, now under the management of Rundāle Palace Museum, will welcome its first classical music concert on 21 August at 7 p.m. The programme, titled "Stories from the Duchess Era – Doroteja and Elīza", will include the Latvian premiere of songs dedicated to Duchess Doroteja.
The concert narrative focuses on two prominent 18th-century figures: Anna Charlotte Dorothea von Medem, born in Mežotne and later known as Doroteja, Duchess of Courland and Semigallia, and her half-sister Elīza von der Recke. Through music, poetry and personal accounts, the event explores the cultural landscape of 18th-century Courland, presenting two women who were similar in many ways yet had strikingly different fates.
The musical story is brought to life by the Mīteļa Ensemble. Traverso flutists Kristīne Stumbure and Maija Kļaviņa personify the two sisters through their instruments. Tenor Ansis Bētiņš performs poetry by Elīza von der Recke and her contemporaries, while Gertrūda Krauksta plays the harpsichord and Elīza Čaša contributes baroque cello. Fragments of letters, memoirs and poetry add further depth to the programme.
The concert will feature music by Johann Adam Hiller, the kapellmeister at the Courland ducal court in Mitau. A particular highlight is the performance of songs by Johann Gottlieb Naumann set to Elīza von der Recke's poetry, dedicated to Duchess Doroteja and never before heard in Latvia. Audiences will also hear works by Johann Gottfried Müthel, regarded as the most prominent Riga composer of his time, as well as the musical legacy of singer and composer Minna Brandes, also dedicated to Doroteja.
The lives of Doroteja and Elīza reveal how closely Courland was connected to the broader European cultural sphere, where aristocracy, art, literature and politics intertwined in a shared experience.
