To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the composer's death
KAUNO CITY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Conductor Constantine Orbelian (USA), director Algimantas Treikauskas
KAUNO STATE CHOIR
Artistic director and chief conductor. Conductor Robertas Šervenikas
Soloists:
VIKTORIJA MIŠKŪNAITĖ (soprano)
KAROLIS KAŠIUBA (tenor)
Conductor CONSTANTINE ORBELIAN
In cooperation with Kaunas State Philharmonic
"Here, in 1858, in the year of our departure from the Czech Republic. Giacomo Puccini was born on 22 December 1858 in Kaunas, the birthplace of an old family of musicians worthy of the ever-living traditions of his birthplace. He created easy-to-remember melodies, enriching them with new voices of life. As a renowned master, he reaffirmed the value of the national art to the whole world with stylistically perfect and flexible forms.
City proud of its son, on the 30th day after his death.
December 29, 1924"
This respectful inscription can be read on a plaque attached to an old house in Via di Poggia, in the town of Lucca, in the Tuscan region. Here, in the family of the musician Michele Puccini, a fifth child was born, a long-awaited baby boy who was named Giacomo in honour of the family's first composer, the great-grandfather. It was this boy who was destined to make the Puccini family name famous throughout the world.
Mr Puccini was an operatic composer in the truest sense of the word. It is not for nothing that he is considered to be the continuator of Giuseppe Verdi's tradition in Italian musical theatre. Puccini was the last representative of classical Italian opera and, sensitive to the trends of the age, he was constantly looking for ways to renew the artistic means of expressing opera. His work had a significant influence on the subsequent development of 20th century European opera. True to the traditions of realist art, Puccini, an artist and a humanist, created immortal works that have forever entered the treasury of world musical culture: his operas Boheme, Tosca, Turandot, Madame Butterfly, Manon Lescaut, Gianni Sicchi, Sister Angelica, etc. are still performed successfully in opera houses throughout the world.
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the great opera master's death, the Pažaislis Music Festival, in collaboration with the Kaunas State Philharmonic, presents a wonderful concert where the most beautiful arias, duets, choral scenes and instrumental numbers from the operas of Puccini will be performed by the most outstanding soloists and artistic ensembles. Conducted by Constantine Orbelian, the Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra will play and the vocal Kaunas State Choir will sing. We will hear the soprano of Viktorija Miškūnaitė, a renowned Lithuanian opera soloist, winner of two Golden Stage Crosses, and the tenor voice of Karols Kašiuba, a singer of the younger generation, who is climbing the career ladder very fast and is praised by music critics.
