In its 111th season, the Vilnius Old Theater is taking a new path - becoming a stage not only for drama, but also for musical performances and concerts. November 21, 22 and 23 The concert program "Endless Pleasure" will be played in Visaginas, Vilnius and Vilkaviškis, where the works of WA Mozart and GF Händel will be performed by the world legend of early music, British conductor and harpsichordist Trevor Pinnock, soprano Lauryna Bendžiūnaitė, St. Christopher's Chamber Orchestra and International Wind Ensemble.
As these exceptional performances approach, we talk to Ana Ablamonova, curator of opera and music of the Vilnius Old Theater, about this season's innovations, the role of the theater in spreading music culture, and how these concerts contribute to the future vision of the theater.
This season in the old theater of Vilnius stands out in new directions - the theater also becomes a stage for musical performances. How do these musical performances and concerts relate to the history and traditions of the theater?
in the old theater of Vilnius since 1948. the opera and ballet theater operated until 1974. It can be said that for almost a quarter of the century of this building, its content was shaped exclusively by the repertoire of the musical direction. And although the drama theater is currently dominant in the repertoire, the stage of the Vilnius Old Theater has always been open to various individual musical events: from contemporary and baroque opera productions to the "Vilnius Jazz" festival, which has organically coexisted with the space of this theater, or other initiatives. The architecture and environment of the theater are very suitable for the content of this direction. There is also a small orchestra box here, and the size and acoustics of the space are ideal for many operas, for which the common stages of music theaters in Lithuania are simply too big or acoustically too dry. So, musical theater and musical events are not new here. It's just that now we want to pay more attention to them, purposefully strengthening certain phenomena that have not had adequate infrastructural support in Lithuania so far, and to open the Vilnius Old Theater to a new audience of music and opera listeners, offering it greater diversity.
How will this new direction fit into the Season 111 program and what are the main highlights of the upcoming musical performances?
This direction will gradually appear in the old theater of Vilnius. Although the musicality of the troupe of theater actors is undoubted and of a really high level, it still takes time to discover the organic involvement of the troupe and the possibilities of musical expression. Music at the moment events will occupy a small part of the repertoire, will be formed in cooperation with various Lithuanian and foreign partners, trying to offer interesting and unique performances to the public.
The main musical highlight of the 111th season is the production of GF Handel's opera Acis and Galatea, with British early music legend, harpsichordist and conductor maestro Trevor Pinnock kindly agreeing to be the musical director. The opera will be directed by Gintaras Varnas, and an international team of performers will also participate Vilnius city municipalities collectives - St. Christopher's Chamber Orchestra and Choir "Jauna muzika". The actors of Vilnius Old Theater will also join. At this stage, the "Endless Pleasure" series of concerts is organized in order to introduce the public to the performers, and to give the performers themselves the opportunity to get to know each other creatively.
Baroque is one of the directions in which we would like to move, based on the excellent architecture and acoustics of the Old Theater of Vilnius. Of course, this direction will not be the only one.
At the end of November, a special event will take place on the stage of the Vilnius Old Theater concert Endless Pleasure, featuring works by WA Mozart and GF Handel. Why were these composers chosen and how do their works reveal the idea of the concert?
The main goal of this concert program is to introduce St. Christopher's Chamber Orchestra with maestro Trevor Pinnock in preparation for a production of GF Handel's opera, as well as exploring the possibilities of putting together a wind ensemble that masters this style. So it is natural that the work of GF Händel appeared in the program. Maestro T. Pinnock is best known as since 1972. founder and long-time director (until 2003) of the living early music orchestra The English Concert, a pioneer of original instruments and historically accurate performance on the modern stage. The maestro performs with the world's most prominent orchestras, on the most famous stages, and in collaboration with "Deutsche Grammophon" has recorded many harpsichord solo and chamber music records. He pays a lot of attention not only to old music, but also to Mozart, and does not overlook the works of modern authors.
Thus, the formation of the program is based on the desired goal, and the more specific content is proposed by maestro T. Pinnock. The inspiration for the title was the aria "Endless Pleasure" from GF Händel's opera "Semelė", which will be performed by soprano Lauryna Bendžiūnaitė along with other arias.
I had the pleasure of seeing how the maestro works, how adventurously he is able to involve everyone in the music. So I have no doubt that the concerts in November really await us boundless pleasure experiencing a high level of musicianship, attention to detail and style.
The concert also covers the Baroque era, and Vilnius, where the first opera was performed in the 17th century, also has deep Baroque traditions. Why is it important today to actualize historical contexts through the power of music?
Baroque opera culture in Lithuania has historically deep traditions. in 1636 Virgilio Puccitelli's opera "The Kidnapping of Elena" was staged in Vilnius Lower Castle Theater. And it was quite a progressive event of that time - Vilnius became one of the first European capitals to get acquainted with this innovative genre of the Baroque era. Paradoxically, recently, in our beautiful city of baroque architecture, the opera culture of that era has been struggling to find its way - both in terms of education, infrastructure, and funding. In this context, the space of the Vilnius old theater can become a platform, gradually using good international practices, supplementing and strengthening the efforts of early music enthusiasts. The space of this theater is perfect for that.
"Endless Pleasure" is a unique performance with international music artists such as T. Pinnock and L. Bendžiūnaitė. How did you manage to gather such exceptional performers who will perform not only in Vilnius, but also in smaller cities?
Because of the personal connections and the openness of the artists to the proposed ideas. I had to cooperate with the tandem of L. Bendžiūnaitė and T. Pinnock in other contexts. I'm glad the idea intrigued them. Then we gathered together the entire team of performers: St. Christopher's chamber orchestra, which we supplemented with an international group of wind instruments. Musicians who know the baroque style from Poland, Switzerland, and Italy will come. Instrumentalists from Lithuania interested in this direction of music will also join. Everything is based on great creative curiosity, the desire to get involved in the idea and, of course, the personality of maestro T. Pinnock.
What does this concert tour mean, which includes not only Vilnius, but also Visaginas and Vilkaviškis? How have regional communities responded to this project and what is its significance for cultural accessibility?
When planning the presentations of the "Endless Pleasure" concert program in Lithuania, we considered various dissemination strategies. Choose the best concert halls in big cities or go the other way? After all, these performers really deserve the best acoustics, they have played in various concert halls and the best theaters around the world. However, when the idea of moving to smaller cities arose, we decided to give the residents, who rarely have such opportunities, the opportunity to hear really high-quality concert programs. This idea immediately received the support of artists. Then we chose partners with whom we already had some experience and feel confident. This is how the puzzle of three V cities came together, which means additional logistical challenges, but is really reasonable and demonstrates the artists' responsibility and awareness of the social and educational importance of such a step.
St. The Christopher Chamber Orchestra and the world legend of early music T. Pinnock - what unites them in this project? What musical events are coming up in the future?
The first acquaintance is this series of concerts "Endless Pleasure". We plan to meet at the opera production in the spring. Among these events, with the help of maestro T. Pinnock's connections, we plan to hold master classes - making music with baroque smits. I hope the cooperation will have an extension.
How do you see the future of Vilnius Old Theater, where musical performances, concerts and operas will continue to be played? What would you like to achieve in the coming seasons?
I would like to see that the repertoire of the Vilnius old theater could be supplemented with music performances, concerts, thereby attracting a new audience, and giving the genre new opportunities in the Lithuanian cultural ecosystem and covering certain "gaps" in this ecosystem. What direction? The already mentioned baroque opera, with time - also premieres of modern operas, music theater or chamber works of various eras, for which the hall size and acoustics are suitable. I would like the theater space to become a space for periodical musical events of different styles and profiles. I would like the stage of this theater to be associated with the highest musical quality and creative discoveries. In addition, I would hope that in the long run it would be possible to find the key to organically integrate theater actors into the activities of this direction. It would be great to see young creators who would take their first steps in the field of music theater here on this stage alongside the recognized names, and Vilnius Old Theater would become a space for their discoveries.
Lauryna Lopaitė spoke
Concerts:
- November 21 18.30:7 p.m. Visaginas cultural center "Draugystė" (Parko st. XNUMX, Visaginas);
- November 22 18.30:13 p.m. in the old theater of Vilnius (J. Basanavičius st. XNUMX, Vilnius);
- November 23 18.30:28 p.m. in the Vilkaviškis cultural center (Vytauto st. XNUMX, Vilkaviškis).
