LVSO CHILDREN | "A STORY ABOUT DRAMBLIUK BABAR"

F. Poulenc. "The Story of Babar the Elephant" for narrator and piano

L. Anderson. "The Syncopated Clock", "The Waltzing Cat" and "The Typewriter"

Gintaras Januševičius, narrator and piano

Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra

Conductor Egidijus Kaveckas

Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, Pianist Gintaras Januševičius and Conductor Egidijus Kaveckas invite children to spend a lively and intriguing afternoon with the legendary French children's hero Babar the elephant. The story of Francis Poulenc's (1899-1963) composition about Babar the Elephant began when the composer stayed one summer with his little cousins in a villa in Brive-la-Gaillarde. After a while, the children got so bored of his piano playing that they suggested a game: they brought the book "The Story of Babar the Elephant" by Jean de Brunhoff, which was very popular at the time and much loved by the children, and they asked Poulenc to tell them about the adventures of Babar the Elephant... play it on the piano! The composer began to improvise freely on the situations described in the book, and later, recalling his own memories, he composed a musical composition with the same title.

The story tells of Babar, a young African elephant whose mother is killed by a trophy hunter. Terrified, Babar escapes from the jungle to the big city, where he befriends an old lady who buys the elephant clothes and hires a teacher. But Babar's friends find him and invite him back to the jungle. Here, the elephant king dies after eating a poisonous mushroom. Babar is offered the crown - after all, he has lived among humans and gained much wisdom...

This afternoon, the story of Babar the Elephant will be told by pianist Gintaras Januševičius on piano. G. Januševičius studied at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre and later continued his studies in Germany with professors Vladimir Krainev and Bernd Goetzke. Since 2004, the pianist, who has been based in Hanover, has devoted much of his time to educational activities, creating the popular concert series Plathner's Eleven, which he directed for seven years. In Germany, the Hanover Music Talent Exchange competition, which he founded in 2014, became instantly famous, and in Lithuania, the Klaipėda Piano Masters Piano Academy is successfully gaining recognition.

After the adventures of Babar the Elephant, we invite you to listen to the short and charming compositions "The Syncopated Clock", "The Cat Dancing the Waltz" and "The Printing Machine" for symphony orchestra by the American composer Leroy Anderson (1908-1975). The Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra will be led by Dr Egidijus Kaveckas, one of the most professional conductors of the younger generation in Lithuania, in a series of musical stories.