LITHUANIAN NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
(artistic director and principal conductor Modestas Pitrėnas)
KAUNAS STATE CHOIR
(artistic director and principal conductor Robertas Šervenikas)
DARIUS MEŠKAUSKAS (narrator)
Conductor ROBERTAS ŠERVENIKAS
ONUTĖ NARBUTAITĖ – Melodija (Melody) (2nd mvt. from Symphony No. 2)
ALGIRDAS MARTINAITIS – Oratorio Tikėjimo ir vilties invokacijos (Invocations of Faith and Hope) (2023, liturgical, Freedom Struggle Archive, Maironis, Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas and composer’s texts)
It is a meaningful tradition fostered by the Vilnius Festival – to remember, reflect and commemorate the Day of Mourning and Hope through music. On the eve of this sombre date, and especially in the face of the ongoing war, Lithuania’s largest music ensembles and well-known composers, recipients of the National Prize for Culture and Art, invite us to not lose hope and to keep our signposts pointing to human values. Algirdas Martinaitis’ six-movement oratorio for mixed choir, narrator and symphony orchestra, Tikėjimo ir vilties invokacijos (Invocations of Faith and Hope), written to commemorate the Day of the Exiles and the Remembrance of the Political Prisoners, is a testimony to this. Invocation (Latin: invocatio) means a cry, an appeal to us all. “In this time of war and world turmoil, the great suffering of the post-war exile and imprisonment of the people of Lithuania must become for us a sacred memory, a reflection for the present and the future,” says the composer.
Onutė Narbutaitė’s Symphony No.2 (2001) consists of two independent movements. The second movement, entitled Melodija (Melody), was, according to the composer, “accompanied by the reading of the New Testament and other texts, reflections on Bach. These contemplations inspired the hymn.” Narbutaitė describes Melodija (Melody) as rather ascetic music: “It is simple singing, perhaps born out of desperation, but hopeful.”
The most distinguished Lithuanian ensembles are led by Robertas Šervenikas, the first conductor of symphonic canvases by many Lithuanian composers, who also conducted the premieres of these two opuses. Narbutaitė dedicated her Second Symphony to R. Šervenikas.
Tonight’s concert features Darius Meškauskas, one of the best-known and most titled Lithuanian actors, recipient of the National Prize for Culture and Art and other important awards. He has played significant roles in the productions of such directors as Oskaras Koršunovas (Strindberg’s Till Damaskus (To Damascus), Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Grajauskas’ Pašaliniams draudžiama (Forbidden to Outsiders), and Molière’s Tartuffe), Jonas Vaitkus (Ibsen’s En folkefiende (An Enemy of the People)), Eimuntas Nekrošius (Šaltenis’ Kalės vaikai (The Sons of a Bitch)), and Elmārs Seņkovs (Brecht’s Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder (Mother Courage and Her Children)), amongst other directors.
