CONCERT PROGRAMME
F. Poulenc. “The Story of Babar the Elephant” for narrator and
piano (text by Jean de Brunhoff, music by Francis Poulenc, orchestration by Jean Françaix, piano and orchestra translation and adaptation by Gintaras Januševičius)
L. Anderson. “The Syncopated Clock”, “The Waltzing Cat” and
“The Typewriter”
The Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, pianist Gintaras Januševičius, and conductor Egidijus Kaveckas invite children to spend a cheerful and intriguing afternoon with the legendary French children’s hero, Babar the Elephant. The story behind Francis Poulenc’s (1899–1963) composition about Babar the Elephant began one summer when the composer was staying at a villa in the town of Brive-la-Gaillarde together with his young nieces and nephews. After a while, the children grew so tired of hearing him play the piano that they proposed a game: they brought him the hugely popular and much-loved children’s book “The Story of Babar the Elephant” by Jean de Brunhoff and asked Poulenc... to play Babar’s adventures on the piano! The composer began freely improvising to match the situations described in the book, and later, drawing on these memories, created a musical composition bearing the same title.
The story tells of a young African elephant, Babar, who escapes from the jungle to… Paris! There he befriends an old lady and begins learning good manners. However, when his friends find him, they invite him to return to the jungle. There, after eating a poisonous mushroom, the King of the Elephants dies. The crown is offered to Babar – after all, he has lived among humans and gained great wisdom.
Babar’s the Elephant adventures will be further enriched during the concert by charming orchestral miniatures by the American composer Leroy Anderson (1908–1975): “The Syncopated Clock”, “The Waltzing Cat”, and “The Typewriter”.
This lively story of Babar the Elephant will be narrated and performed on the piano this afternoon by Gintaras Januševičius. He studied at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, later continuing his studies in Germany with Professors Vladimir Krainev and Bernd Goetzke. Based in Hanover since 2004, the pianist performs worldwide and is regarded as one of the pioneers of the storytelling concert genre in Lithuania. G. Januševičius also devotes much time to educational activities: in 2017 he founded the largest piano academy in the Baltic States “Klaipėda Piano Masters”, and since 2021 has been hosting music programs on “LRT Klasika”.
The concert is recommended for children aged 4–10.