In 2013 the whole world is celebrating the 200th anniversary of the genius opera composer Richard Wagner – UNESCO officially announced that the whole year is dedicated to the talent of this immortal German creator. To honour Wagner, Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre is organizing a unique event: on 19–26 April we shall present WAGNER’S WEEK. In Lithuania, it is the very first event of this kind.
During this celebratory week the audience will have a chance to see all three operas of Wagner that are currently in the LNOBT’s repertoire –""The Valkyrie"", ""The flying Dutchman"", ""Lohengrin"", and ballet ""Tristan and Isolde"", set to the music from Wagner’s opera of the same name and ""Wesendonck Lieder"" song cycle.
According to the Gintautas Kėvišas, the general manager of the LNOBT, ""No operatic stage in Lithuania has ever welcomed so many pieces of Wagner’s music. Wagner’s Week is going to require a lot of hard work, financial and artistic input – we want this celebration to be of highest possible quality, and thus we’re also inviting some of Lithuanian soloists who are usually working abroad.""
Performances shall be conducted by Modestas Pitrėnas (""Tristan and Isolde"" and ""The Valkyrie""), Martynas Staškus (""The flying Dutchman""), LNOBT's music director Robertas Šervenikas (""Lohengrin""), principal roles in operas sung by soloists Sandra Janušaitė, Kristian Benedikt, Sigutė Stonytė, Egidijus Dauskurdis, Laima Jonutytė, Audrius Rubežius and others.
Famous Lithuanian baritone Almas Švilpa is travelling from Germany especially for Wagner’s Week - he shall perform the roles of Wotan in ""The Valkyrie"" and Dutchman in ""The flying Dutchman"". In ""The Valkyrie"" he will be joined on stage by the first Lithuanian Brunnhilde, soprano Nomeda Kazlaus who performed the role during the premiere of the production in 2007.
Krzysztof Pastor’s ballet ""Tristan and Isolde"" shall be performed by LNOBT’s stars of ballet: Inga Cibulskytė, Marius Miliauskas (house-debut as King Marc), Olga Konošenko, Martynas Rimeikis, Anastasija Čumakova, Stanislav Semianiura (house-debut Morholt) ir kiti. The role of Tristan shall be performed by Pawel Koncewoj (Poland), ""Wesendonck Lieder"" sung by soprano Sigutė Stonytė.
