About

The Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra concludes its 83rd season with a lyrical romantic tone. All three works in the concert programme are linked by the aesthetics of early German romanticism. The music, reflecting the intellectual thought of the early 19th century, is subjective, sensitive and intimate. It communicates with the listener through the composer’s feelings conveyed by musical language.

Vidmantas Bartulis’ I like Schubert is a sonic expression of the composer’s love for the music of Franz Schubert, full of both direct echoes from Schubert’s works and those emerging from Bartulis’ fantasy. The solo violin part will be performed by the orchestra’s concertmaster Rasa Vosyliūtė.

The concert will also feature songs by Franz Schubert himself, considered to be the musical quintessence of early German romanticism. Schubert himself chose a chamber version for soloist and piano of the revived medieval Lied genre, but this time the audience will be presented with arrangements of Schubert’s songs for baritone and orchestra by famous composers of a different period, such as Johannes Brahms, Anton Weber, Max Reger and others. The concert will conclude with Robert Schumann’s Symphony No 3 in E flat major, the last symphony written by the composer (but not published in sheet music), which marks the end of the lyrical era of early romanticism and the turn toward the next stage of the history of large-scale musical forms.

Benjamin Appl, the German-born baritone who captivates audiences with his impressive performances of art songs, studied the art song performance with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, the legendary baritone and master of the genre. Critics and audiences alike are particularly appreciative of Appl’s wide range of vocal colours, his mastery of the craft and his moving interpretations of songs. Winner of the Young Artist of the Year Award at the 2016 Gramophone Classical Music Awards, Appl signed a contract with the prestigious Sony Classical record label. He has performed at some of Europe’s most renowned concert halls, including the Barbican Centre, the Concertgebouw, the Wiener Konzerhaus, the Laieszhalle, the Paris and Cologne philharmonics.