A headstart to the Latvian National was given by the emergence of original Latvian operas. In the 1920s, after Latvia established its statehood, the first Latvian operas, Baņuta by Alfrēds Kalniņš and Uguns un nakts by Jānis Mediņš, were staged.

The Latvian National Opera has no lack of talent as evidenced by the fact that our best soloists – Elīna Garanča, Inga Kalna, Sonora Vaice, Inese Galant, Alexander Antonenko, Egils Siliņš -- are being lured away from Latvia to sing opera houses all over the world. Since the times of our well-known conductor Teodors Reiters, the musical level of the Latvian Opera has always been very high, in the Soviet period maintained by such stars as Jānis Zābers, Kārlis Zariņš, Laima Andersone–Silāre, Žermēna Heine–Vāgnere.

Over the decades, our Opera repertoire has included both masterpieces of world opera music and Latvian classics and contemporary originals – Pazudušais dēls by Romualds Kalsons, Parīzes dievmātes katedrāle and No rozes un asinīm by Zigmars Liepiņš. Under the leadership of its charismatic director Andrejs Žagars, the Opera has revived the tradition of staging Wagner’s operas, in part because of their author’s connection with Riga. The Opera got a new thrilling start after the opera building was renovated in 1995. Lately, the operas have been staged as fascinating grand performances in the spirit of the loftiest of all musical genres. Even staging such great classics as Nabucco, Carmen, Alcina, Salome, The Magic Flute, The Queen of Spades and others, state-of-the art, or even avant-garde, set design and production techniques have been used. The production of Aida, with its impressive set design created by Ilmārs Blumbergs, has received international acclaim. The staging of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen cycle promises to be a magnificent event. The fresh approach and the emergence of new talent has helped to attract young listeners to the opera. The annual Riga Opera Festival as the quintessence of the season’s highlights is attended by hundreds of foreign opera lovers. Another established tradition and a chance to listen to both domestic and foreign stars is the annual Opera Music Festival in Sigulda, organized by the medical doctor Dainis Kalns. Outstanding foreign soloists take it as great honor to participate there.