Opera megastar, one of the world's most beautiful mezzo-sopranos, Elīna Garanča, and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the top five orchestras, conducted by the brilliant maestro of the younger generation, Rafaeli Payare, give Vilnius a refined 19th and 20th century. music program.
Latvian mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča conquered all the main theater stages of the world with her exceptionally beautiful voice and musicality imbued with extraordinary intelligence, and she left an indelible impression on the Lithuanian audience with her concert at the Vilnius Festival last summer. This time, together with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, E. Garanča will convey the very musical spirit of Vienna's fin de siècle - she will perform the vocal cycle of Gustav Mahler's song of the century based on verses by the poet Friedrich Rückert (1901-1904) and the wonderful song "Urlicht" ("First Light", 1893) ), included as a separate part by the composer in his Second Symphony.
The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Wiener Philharmoniker) will perform in Lithuania for the first time. It is one of the oldest and also the most widely known symphonic ensembles in the world. in 1842 The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, founded in 1950, is considered an integral part of the European classical music tradition: in its history, the names of the most famous conductors and the premieres of works that are considered the gold standard of classical music today. And modern technology has made it possible for millions of television viewers and radio listeners to get acquainted with the orchestra's name and unique sound (the so-called "Wiener Klangstil"). The annual New Year's concert held at the headquarters of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, in the famous Vienna Musikverein hall, is broadcast in more than 70 countries.
The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra was praised by the brightest musical geniuses of the past. The whimsical Richard Wagner called it "the greatest in the world", Johannes Brahms declared himself an "admirer" of the orchestra and was happy to entrust the ensemble with the premiere of his symphonies, and Richard Strauss bluntly said: "All praise for the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra is too little."
This orchestra is also unique in that, formally belonging to the Vienna State Opera, it has never had a music director, and conductors are invited and engaged by the orchestra itself. However, such conducting legends as Hans Richter and Felix Weingartner (19th century), Gustav Mahler, 20th century have worked with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. the famous Wilhelm Furtwängler, Herbert von Karajan, Leonard Bernstein, Georg Solti, Bernard Haitink, Pierre Boulez and many other most famous conductors.
In Vilnius, the orchestra will perform with Rafael Payare, a conductor of the younger generation from Venezuela who has performed extensively in Europe. R. Payare is especially valued for his extraordinary musicality and stage expressiveness. R. Payare made his debut with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in 2015. conducting concerts in the "Musikverein" hall and the "Champs Elysées" theater in Paris. He also conducts the London Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony and other orchestras, and is music director of the Ulster Symphony Orchestra in Belfast. The orchestra conducted by him, in addition to G. Mahler's songs, will perform two opuses from the list of most frequently performed symphonic works - Ludwig van Beethoven's overture "Leonora" no. 3 (1806) and Béla Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra (1943).
