About

Three generations of a pianists’ family come together to celebrate two great occasions – the 85th birthday of Professor Veronika Vitaitė and the 268th birthday of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The concert will symbolically open with Mozart’s Concerto for two pianos and orchestra No. 10 in E flat major. The composer wrote it to make music together with his sister Maria Anna. On the National Philharmonic stage, this dialogue between two pianos will be brought to life by representatives of a contemporary family of musicians.

The name of Professor Veronika Vitaitė has a special significance in the world of Lithuanian music – the pianist and pedagogue has given solo and chamber music concerts in various countries, is a prize-winner and jury member of numerous international piano competitions, an organiser of masterclasses. She has educated many generations of pianists. However, among her many awards, Vitaitė is most happy with the Family Medal of the Order of St Casimir, awarded to her for her family’s music-making. Three members of the family, Prof. Veronika Vitaitė, her daughter Aleksandra Žvirblytė and grandson Paulius Andersson, often gather at the piano not only at home but also on stage.

The concert will feature Vytautas Barkauskas’ Trio concertante for three pianos and symphony orchestra. The combination of three pianos on one stage is spectacular, but extremely rare and probably only possible on special occasions. The concert will conclude with Béla Bartók’s Concerto for orchestra, one of the Hungarian modernist’s most famous works, taking a fresh approach to the concerto genre that Mozart championed. The programme will be conducted by Robertas Šervenikas, second conductor of the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra.