24 April 2021, 7pm
Duration: 2 hours
Price: €6,00 - €14,00
Venue: Vilnius Congress Hall (Vilniaus Str. 6-1, Vilnius)
Violin Dalia Kuznecovaitė
Violin Zbigniev Levicki
Violin Kristupas Keller
Orchestra Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra
Conductor Gintaras Rinkevičius
LIVE STREAM: on FACEBOOK and YOUTUBE (HD).

CONCERT PROGRAMME

P. Vasks. Violin concerto “Distant Light“(1996–1997)
A. Pärt. “Tabula rasa“ (1977)
F. Bajoras. Symphony-Diptych (1984)

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This spring, when the concert halls remain closed, Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra conducted by its artistic director and chief conductor Gintaras Rinkevičius invites you to watch the live webcast of the Baltic Orchestra Festival concert. This time, the viewers will have a unique opportunity to hear the works of the most famous contemporary Baltic composers: Pēteris Vasks, Arvo Pärt and Feliksas Bajoras. Their works will be performed by the most prominent Lithuanian violinist, winner of many international and national competitions DALIA KUZNECOVAITĖ, concertmasters of the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, violinists ZBIGNIEVAS LEVICKIS and KRISTUPAS KELLER. The LITHUANIAN STATE SYMPHONY ORCHEATRA shall be conducted by maestro GINTARAS RINKEVIČIUS.

The concert will begin with the modern classic – violin concerto "Distant Light", written by the Latvian composer PĒTERIS VASKS (b. 1946) for violin and orchestra and dedicated to the world-famous violinist Gidon Kremer. Violinist Daniel Rowland wrote: “When I first heard P. Vasks’ “Distant Light ”, I was struck by this exceptional music, its profound emotional impact. To me, it seemed wonderfully mysterious, archaic, highly spiritual, exciting and at the same time astonishingly virtuosic”. According to P. Vasks himself, this work was strongly influenced by G. Kremer's book “Moments from Childhood".  The composer described his work as a song emerging from silence and fading into silence, full of idealism, love, sometimes melancholic, and sometimes dramatic. "Distant Light" is nostalgia with an undertaste of tragedy. Childhood memories, shining stars that are millions of light-years away…”, – said P. Vasks.

ARVO PÄRT'S (b. 1935) concert "Tabula rasa" for two violins, piano and orchestra is a cult piece that changed the whole perception of music in the nineties and invited to listen to and understand music in a whole new way. The work also became a turning point in A. Pärt's own career, revealing the possibilities of expressing the tintinnabuli style created by the composer.  “Tabula rasa” is a phraseology derived from ancient Greek philosophy, literally meaning "clean board". A. Pärt wrote: “Before saying anything, maybe it is better to not say anything at all. My music only arrives when I spend a lot of time in silence, when I’m literally silent. To me, silence means Nothing from which God created the world.  Ideally, a break in silence is something sacred... If I approach silence with love, then music can be born.”

The evening dedicated to the Baltic composers will end with FELIKSAS BAJORAS' (b. 1934) Symphony-Diptych, which sounds like an introduction to the composer's opera "Lamb of God". Such choice of the piece is not accidental: Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra together with the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre have already agreed to stage this opera next year. Like most of F. Bajoras' symphonic works, the musical texture of the Symphony-Diptych is extremely polyphonic, the instrumental parts are imagined as separate characters – especially the personified wind timbres, whose remarks sound like the composer's singing style and manner of speech. "In the end, it is far more important to be yourself than to strive to be understood," – says F. Bajoras, an unpredictable creator, surprising listeners with original angles and unique combinations of ethnic and contemporary music. According to prof. Vytautas Landsbergis, "all the motifs, rhythms, sounds, nuances of F. Bajoras’ music speak as if in words; it seems, one could take them and translate them". Perhaps this is why the composer's music stands out with its theatricality – listening to it does create the impression that "something is happening".