VADYM KHOLODENKO PERFORMS J. BRAHMS

“An unquestionably exceptional artist,” – wrote the French daily “Le Figaro” in 2017 about the Kyiv-born Ukrainian pianist Vadym Kholodenko. The winner of the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (USA), V. Kholodenko is distinguished by his fiery pianism, an extraordinarily wide repertoire, and refined, poetic interpretations. His extraordinary talent and mastery have earned the pianist a place among the world’s classical music elite. In the 2024–2025 season, V. Kholodenko will perform with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Filarmonica della Scala in Milan, the Netherlands Radio, Vienna, London Philharmonic, Indianapolis, and other leading symphony orchestras. The pianist also plays recitals in prestigious concert halls from London, Paris, Vienna to Boston, Chicago, and New York, where he is praised for his “impeccable technique, capable of revealing moments of crystalline subtlety” (“The Guardian”). V. Kholodenko's recordings are considered “truly exceptional” (Gramophone Magazine) and have won the BBC Music Magazine Editor's Choice Award and the coveted Diapason d'Or Award of the Year. In Vilnius, the famous pianist will play J. Brahms's impressive Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 83, revealing the composer's mastery and all-round maturity.

In the second part of the concert, the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra conducted by its artistic director and chief conductor Gintaras Rinkevičius, will perform Jean Sibelius' (1865–1957) First Symphony in E minor, which the composer wrote in 1899, when he was 34 years old. Although Sibelius had already established himself as a master of orchestration with his previous programmatic symphonic poems, it was the First Symphony that earned the composer international recognition. “This symphony, full of unbridled power, passionate vitality and astonishing audacity, is an extraordinary work that breaks new ground, or rather, rushes forward like a drunken god”, – wrote Ferdinand Pfolas in the “Hamburger Nachrichten” newspaper.