16 March 2023, 7pm
Duration: 2 hours
Price: €14,00 - €29,00
Venue: Lithuanian National Philharmonic Hall (Aušros Vartų Str. 5, Vilnius)
Piano Anna Geniušienė
Treble voice Kristupas Krušnauskas
Actor / Actors Vladas Bagdonas
Choir Kaunas State Choir (dir. Robertas Šervenikas)
Orchestra Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra
Conductor Gintaras Rinkevičius

E. Grieg. Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16
A. Martinaitis. Oratorio "Letter to All Believers" for treble, reader, mixed choir and symphony orchestra (texts by St. Francis of Assisi)

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The Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, led by its artistic director and chief conductor Gintaras Rinkevičius, presents a celebratory concert dedicated to the 700th anniversary of Vilnius. On this special occasion, the orchestra invites you to hear an extraordinary soloist – pianist Anna Geniušienė, winner of the silver medal at the prestigious international Van Cliburn (USA) competition (in 2022). A. Geniušienė graduated from the Moscow P. Tchaikovsky Conservatory in 2015, and in 2018 – from the Royal Academy of Music in London, receiving a master’s degree with honours (Prof. Christopher Elton's class). The pianist performed her first recital at the age of seven. Since then, A. Geniušienė's career has been diverse and universal. The pianist's fresh, multi-layered interpretations have earned her the love of audiences around the world. The pianist has performed at the National Concert Hall in Dublin, the Art Museum in Tel Aviv, the Carlo Felice Theatre in Genoa, the Greppi Concert Hall in Bergamo and many other venues. At the Lithuanian National Philharmonic, A. Geniušienė shall perform one of the most famous piano pieces in the world, the Piano Concerto in A minor by the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (1843–1907), which the author wrote when he was only 24 years old.

The second part of the concert will feature the oratorio "Letter to All Believers" by composer Algirdas Martinaitis (b. 1950). The work was created in 2000; it was commissioned by the LRT radio station "Klasika" and performed for the first time at the Euroradijo concert "Greetings, Year 2000!". The oratorio was written in the spirit of religious texts by Francis of Assisi (1181–1226). During his self-purification, he sang a restless song to Creation: sister Sun, brother Moon, Earth, Death and others, preached a sermon to the birds. One can hear echoes of "poor" minimalism in the piece: the voluntary poverty promoted by Francis, the "choirs" of lively birds. These echoes relate to the gift of the Almighty to us, showing how to love and worship the world.

Parts:

I. Letter to All Believers

II. Birds of Mount La Verna

III. Praised be You, my Lord

IV. A Sermon to the Birds

V. The Worshiping of God