CONCERT PROGRAMME
D. Digimas. “De Focus“
L. van Beethoven. Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73
H. Berlioz. “Symphonie fantastique”
Dmitri Levkovich, an artist of Ukrainian origin living in Canada, was born with two vocations: those of a pianist and a composer. Dmitri Levkovich’s performances were praised for “artistic sophistication far above the ordinary” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) and “understanding of the music far beyond most young pianists” (American Record Guide). His original compositions were brilliantly reviewed in the Philadelphia’s Broad Street Review - “…the musicians could jump right into the heartfelt melodies and big emotional surges”.
D. Levkovich studied the art of piano with the legendary Armenian pianist Sergei Babayan and at the Curtis Music Institute in the USA. D. Levkovich is the winner of many international competitions, has won audience and special prizes. The pianist has already performed in such world-famous concert halls as the Berlin Philharmonic, Paris Champs Elysees Theatre, New York's Carnegie Hall, Warsaw Philharmonic and others. Tonight, D. Levkovich' star will shine in Vilnius, where together with the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra the pianist will perform L. van Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto in E flat major, op. 73, known for its majesty, bright melodies and heroic spirit.
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) – the "Fantastic Symphony" (full title is “Fantastic Symphony: an Episode of the Artist's Life”). This symphony is one of the first examples of program music, and also stands out for its extremely innovative, even revolutionary ideé fixe theme of the time – it depicts the hallucinatory fantasies of H. Berlioz himself, which possessed him because of his unrequited love for the Irish actress Harriet Smithson. Truth be told, after the premiere of the symphony, the composer's seven-year suffering came to an end: impressed by the fame of H. Berlioz (musicians such as Ferenc Liszt, Frédéric Chopin, Niccolò Paganini, writers Alexandre Dumas, Victor Hugo and George Sand were at the premiere), H. Smithson agreed to marry the composer. The symphony, presented in Paris in 1830, earned H. 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 the chief conductor of the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, Ričardas Šumila.