LNOBT has already established an ambitious tradition of presenting to the public some of world‘s most famous performers, soloists and orchestras. In the autumn of 2010 LNOBT welcomed the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the most celebrated orchestras in the world. In that same year the main stage of the theatre was also graced by pianist Evgeny Kissin. In 2011 LNOBT presented the concert of the Mariinsky Theatre‘s Orchestra (Saint Petersburg, Russia) conducted by Valery Gergiev, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (USA) together with superstar violinist Anne Sophie von Mutter (Germany). We also welcomed the legendary ""Gewandhausorchester Leipzig"" and ""Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse"" with pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja, as well as the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne with pianist Anna Vinnitskaya and London Symphony Orchestra with violinist Leonidas Kavakos.
Continuing this cycle of exceptional projects, on 18 September LNOBT launched its new season with a truly extraordinary event – concert of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra that was performing in Lithuania for the first time in its career. The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra - one of the best and most professional orchestras in the world - performed in Vilnius together with Lithuanian opera diva, soprano Violeta Urmana. The concert was conducted by Maestro Zubin Mehta.
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra is one of Israel’s oldest and most influential cultural institutions. Since its founding in 1936, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra has dedicated itself to presenting the world’s greatest music to audiences in Israel and around the world. Founded by Polish violinist Bronislaw Huberman, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra represents the fulfillment of his dream ""to unite the desire of the country for an orchestra with the desire of the Jewish musicians for a country.""
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra is Israel’s premier cultural ambassador and travels extensively throughout the world, particularly to countries where there is little or no Israeli representation. The good-will created by these tours, which have included historic visits to Japan, Argentina, Poland, Hungary, Russia, China, and India is of enormous value to the State of Israel.
In 1968 Maestro Zubin Mehta was appointed Music Advisor to the IPO and in 1977 he became its Music Director. Born in Bombay, India, Zubin Mehta grew up in a musical environment. His father, Mehli Mehta, founded the Bombay Symphony and was Music Director of the American Youth Symphony in Los Angeles. Despite this musical influence, his initial field of study was in medicine. At the age of eighteen, he abandoned his medical career to attend the Academy of Music in Vienna. Seven years later, he conducted both the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonics. He has rapidly become one of the world's most sought after orchestral and operatic conductors, winning countless awards and distinctions in many countries. Zubin Mehta continues to support the discovery and furtherance of musical talents all over the world. Together with his brother Zarin he is a co-chairman of the Mehli Mehta Music Foundation in Bombay, where more than 200 children are educated in Western Classical Music.
Soloist of the concert, the Lithuanian-born singer Violeta Urmanavičiūtė - Urmana is now recognised as one of the leading dramatic sopranos in the Italian and German fach with roles such as Aida, Amelia, Elisabetta, Gioconda, Leonora, Tosca, Norma, Sieglinde or Isolde. Violeta Urmana began her career in 1993 and after one year made her debut at the La Scala theatre in Milan, as well as at the Bayreuth Festival – such spectacular debuts opened up the doors into the most important stages of the world. First acknowledged as a mezzo-soprano, the soloist became world famous for her interpretation of roles such as Kundry in Wagner's Parsifal and Eboli in Verdi's Don Carlo. Violeta Urmana made her debut as a soprano in the part of Sieglinde in Wagner's Die Walküre at the 2001 Bayreuth Festival, and in December 2002 sang the title role of Gluck's Iphigénie en Aulide conducted by Riccardo Muti, to open the new season at Teatro alla Scala in Milan. After that, she made several highly successful appearances as a soprano.
Programme of the Concert:
1. P. Ben-Haim. Symphony No. 1. Psalm.
2. W. A. Mozart. Symphony No. 40 ir G minor (KV550)
3. Eboli's aria from G. Verdi's opera ""Don Carlos""
4. Azucena's aria from G. Verdi's opera ""Il trovatore""
5. Dalila's aria from C. Saint-Saëns opera ""Samson et Dalila""
6. R. Strauss. Symphonic poem ""A Hero's Life""
The principal sponsor of the concert is bank NORDEA.
2014 09 19
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