Both in the prospect of music stars and in the practice of the most famous festivals unexpected changes sometimes happen, and very often they are for the better. It seems to be the case at this year’s Vilnius Festival, where the closing concert on 20 June will feature Jonathan Tetelman, the mega star, American tenor of the younger generation. He will perform with the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Modestas Pitrėnas at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Concert Hall. The soloist replaces unexpectedly fallen sick Joseph Calleja. The concert will feature arias from the repertoires of the most famous tenors alongside the orchestral excerpts from operas.
Jonathan Tetelman, appearing for the first time on the stage of the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society, has been praised for his “vocally magnificent, radiant and distinctive tenor” (Opera Aktuell), for his “golden tone, with liquid phrasing, tenderness and ardour in equal measure” (Gramophone), and for his “voice that has all the Italianate ardour (...) without compromising on elegance or finesse” (Financial Times). The soloist burst onto the opera and concert scene like a breath of fresh air and rapidly established himself as a major star of his generation.
Born in Chile and raised in New Jersey, the tenor is today performing on the world’s major stages. He is a regular performer at festivals in Baden-Baden, Aix-en-Provence, Salzburg, Ljubljana and elsewhere. In recent years he has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the San Francisco Opera, the Berlin Opera, the Rome Opera, the Naples Opera and other theatres.
Critics today regard him as perhaps the finest interpreter of Giacomo Puccini’s music of his generation. Most recently, the Lithuanian audience enjoyed Tetelman’s appearance in a concert performance of Puccini’s opera Tosca, together with other soloists, the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra and Kaunas State Choir, conducted by Modestas Pitrėnas at the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre.
Considering that his album of Puccini’s music, recorded and released by Deutsche Grammophon in 2023, was awarded by Opera Magazine in the category of Best Solo Album, and remembering the still heated impressions of the concert performance of Tosca, one can only hope that Puccini’s arias, as well as other magnificent vocal music, will glister in the Vilnius Festival concert, and the soloist’s performance with the LNSO and Pitrėnas will further the wonderful creative partnership.
All concerts of Vilnius Festival are announced on the website www.nationalphilharmonic.lt The festival is organised by the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society and PI Vilnius Festivals, with the support of Vilnius City Municipality, Juozas and Laima Magelinskas and Artis Centrum Hotels.
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