21 January 2022, 7pm
Duration: 2 hours
Price: €14,00 - €29,00
Venue: Lithuanian National Philharmonic Hall (Aušros Vartų Str. 5, Vilnius)
Piano LUKAS GENIUŠAS
Orchestra LITHUANIAN STATE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Conductor GINTARAS RINKEVIČIUS

CONCERT PROGRAMME

P. Tchaikovsky. Piano concerto No. 2 in G major, op. 44
D. Shostakovich. Symphony No. 7 in C Major, op. 60 (“Leningrad”)

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Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, conducted by its artistic director and chief conductor Gintaras Rinkevičius, invites to celebrate the birthday of the orchestra together with one of the best Lithuanian pianists Lukas Geniušas and the impressive program of works by Piotr Tchaikovsky (1840–1893) and Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975).

Lukas Geniušas has already established himself as one of the most interesting and original artists of his generation in the world. "The radiance and maturity, the winner's talent and deep interpretation” – this is how the influential British daily “The Guardian” summarized the pianist’s performance in 2016. L. Geniušas has already performed with The Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Lyon National, NHK, Birmingham, Hamburg, Duisburg, BBC Scotland, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Mariinsky Theatre’s orchestra, Toronto symphony, Warsaw’s philharmonic, Kremerata Baltica and other notable symphony orchestras. The artist fascinates the audiences not only with his impressive virtuosity, but also with stylishness, intellectual utterance, harmony of temperament, emotion and logic.

L. Geniušas started his musical career at the F. Chopin College of Music in Moscow, from which he graduated in 2008 with the highest grades. He later continued his studies at the Moscow Conservatory in the class of his grandmother, the famous piano professor Vera Gornostayeva. These studies had a decisive influence on the pianist's musical breakthrough: he won several prestigious international competitions, including 2nd place in the Tchaikovsky International Competition in 2015, and 2nd place in the F. Chopin International Competition in 2010.

Tonight, L. Geniušas together with the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, conducted by maestro G. Rinkevičius, will perform P. Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 2, which the composer began writing in 1880 during the vacation at his sister’s. Tchaikovsky wrote to his patron Nadezhda von Meck: "I am creating with great enthusiasm, but consciously and carefully, and not with the feverish urgency that is so detrimental to my work". The composer was convinced that this concert would be one of his best works.

In the second part of the concert, the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, conducted by maestro G. Rinkevičius, will continue the cycle of symphonies by Dmitri Shostakovich and shall perform Symphony No. 7, also known as “Leningrad”. The composer began writing this piece in 1941, in the summer after the German siege of Leningrad. On 8 September 1941 the blockade of Leningrad began; in the same autumn D. Shostakovich and his family were evacuated to Moscow, and later to Kuibyshev (now Samara), where he finally completed the Seventh Symphony. "Neither the wild raids of the Germans, nor the warplanes, nor the gloomy atmosphere of the besieged city could stop the flow. I worked with such inhuman intensity that I had never reached before,” – D. Shostakovich later recalled. Symphony No. 7, which requires a massive orchestra, has become a masterpiece of world’s musical heritage – a timeless symbol of war, human strength and hope.