CONCERT PROGRAMME
F. Mendelssohn. Overture from the symphonic suite "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
J. Sibelius. Violin Concerto in D minor, op. 47
H. Berlioz. “Symphonie fantastique“
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Paula Šūmane is a Latvian concert violinist and the prizewinner of numerous international violin competitions and the Latvian Great Music Award. As a soloist, Paula has collaborated with various symphony and chamber orchestras – Lisbon Metropolitan orchestra, Baden-Baden Philharmonic orchestra, Hofer Symphoniker, Latvian National Symphony orchestra, Sinfonietta Riga, Liepaja Symphony orchestra, Lithuanian State Symphony orchestra, Klaipeda State Music Theatre orchestra etc. Along with her stage performances Paula is frequently invited to give violin masterclasses as well as attend music competitions as a jury member.
Paula Šūmane has graduated from two prestigious music universities – Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP) and Kunstuniversität Graz (KUG, Master`s degree) with professors Yair Kless and Boris Garlitsky, both with highest distinctions. She has studied with acclaimed chamber music mentors - Itamar Golan and Chia Chou, and has also completed contemporary music program (Neue Musik) at the KUG with composer Georg Friedrich Haas and in collaboration with Klangforum Wien. Initially her musical skills were shaped by Latvian violin teachers Uldis Viesturs Sprūdžs, Ojārs Kalniņš, Haviva Dimenšteine, Ludmila Girska, Gaļina Akuļiča and Anete Zvaigzne.
During the concert, P. Šūmane will perform one of the most famous works of the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865–1957) – Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D minor, Op. 47. In 1904, as the composer was passionately working on the manuscript, his wife Aino wrote in her letters: “Jean is completely on fire with this concert – and so am I! He doesn’t sleep all night, he plays the violin with incredible beauty and can’t tear himself away from those charming tunes – he has so many ideas in his head that it’s hard to comprehend. And all musical themes can be developed – life itself is pulsating within them”.
In the second part of the concert, the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra will perform one of the most famous works of the great French romantic Hector Berlioz (1803–1869) – “Fantastical Symphony”, the full title of which is “Fantastical Symphony: Episode in the Life of an Artist”. This symphony is one of the first works of programmatic music, and also stands out for its highly innovative, even revolutionary ideé fixe theme of the time: it depicts H. Berlioz's own hallucinatory fantasies, as he obsesses over his unrequited love for Irish actress Harriet Smithson. Surprisingly, the composer's suffering, which lasted seven years after the premiere of the symphony, suddenly came to an end: impressed by the fame of H. Berlioz (the premiere included such guests as Franz Liszt, Frédéric Chopin, Niccolò Paganini, writers Alexandre Dumas, Victor Hugo and George Sand), his beloved H. Smithson finally agreed to marry him. Presented in Paris in 1830, the Symphony earned Berlioz the reputation of one of the most progressive composers of the century.
On this evening, the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra will be conducted by Latvian conductor maestro Atvars Lakstīgala.