ONUTĖ GRAŽINYTĖ (piano)

Programme:

D.I
Johann Sebastian Bach - Prelude and Fugue in C sharp minor from Volume I of the GTK
Ludwig van Beethoven - Sonata No.24 in F sharp major, Op. 78 ("Teresei")
Claude Debussy - Etude No. 11 "Pour les Arpeges Composes" ("Complex Arpeggios")
Ludwig van Beethoven - Sonata No. 30 in E-flat major, Op. 109

Volume II
Isaac Albéniz - Suite "Corpus Christi en Sevilla" ("Celebration of the Body of Christ in Seville") from Volume I of Iberia
Jörg Widmann - Humoresque No. 2, 3, 4 from the cycle "11 Humoreskes"
Ferenc Liszt - sonata-fantasy "Après une lecture du Dante" ("After reading Dante")

Having grown up in a family of famous musicians, laureate of ten national and international competitions, the pianist of the younger generation, ONUTĖ GRAŽINYTĖ, is returning to the stage of the Kaunas Philharmonic Hall with a multifaceted programme, with a dualistic motif at the centre of the work. According to the performer, in the works to be performed this evening, we will hear how suffering is replaced by exultation, and regularity by breaking out of all frames.

The pianist will open the concert with Bach's Prelude and Fugue, the most aptly expressive of pain, suffering and perfection. The concert will continue with van Beethoven's 24th Sonata, a particularly light and playful work. The composer dedicated the work to his pupil, Countess Therese von Brunswick, one of the composer's presumed lovers. Debussy's Eleventh Etude was written at a time when the composer was particularly interested in the relationship between black and white, i.e. the juxtaposition of black and white keys. It is interesting to note that Debussy composed the cycle of 12 etudes without the use of any instrument, relying solely on his inner senses, his hearing and his imagination. A similar story happened with van Beethoven's thirtieth sonata, which the composer wrote when he was completely deaf. This fact did not prevent the work from being included in the list of van Beethoven's works that break the notion of the sonata form and shape it in new ways.

The second part of the concert will feature the Spanish composer I. Albéniz's The Feast of the Body of Christ in Sevilla, a work that depicts the Spanish celebration of the body. Every year, during this festival, a procession takes place in which people dress up in ancient costumes and walk through the streets to the sound of bells and traditional songs, one of which is the main theme of this work. This tradition-inspired work will be contrasted with music by the contemporary German composer J. Widmann. The pianist will play three humoresques from a cycle composed in 2006. "I find this work very impressive, Widmann's music is exceptional, innovative and daring, but it does not scare the listener too much. It is topical and, without diminishing it, it is understandable enough. I'm very much looking forward to sharing it with you and presenting it to you!" - says O.

The concert programme will culminate with a sonata-fantasy "Reading Dante" by Hungarian composer and piano virtuoso F. Liszt, inspired by Dante Alighieri's "The Divine Comedy", which depicts the hero's journey through hell, purgatory and paradise. With this piece, the singer will make sense of the duality and invite us to think again about pain and laughter, good and evil, their relationship, limits and common points.