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Giuseppe VERDI
La Traviata
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Opera in 4 acts (in Lithuanian)
This story praises the true Love, which survives the unfavorable circumstances in Violette and Alfredo’s life, undergoes the intrigues of the surrounding world and the everlasting parting destined by God.
Premiere on December 31, 1994
Performance renewed on August 9, 2003
Duration ~ 3 hr
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Piotr ČAIKOVSKIJ
Eugene Onegin
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Opera in 2 parts (in Russian)
Ilmars Harijs Lapinsch, the musical leader and conductor: “In my opinion, the main problem discussed in the opera – the relation between love and responsibility – is as old as the civilization.
P. Tchaikovsky’s music may be considered the most expressive, the deepest source for love assertion. Thus we merely convey this idea in the play with no intention of “praising” either Pushkin or Tchaikovsky”.
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Georges BIZET
Carmen
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Opera in 4 acts
Premiere on August 8, 1998
Duration ~ 3 hr 30 min.
This is a musical story telling about a passionately loving gypsy Carmen. The French composer Georges Bizet (1838-1875) wrote a realistic opera “Carmen” according to the plot of novella of the same title, written by Prosper Merimee (1803-1870). In the 19th century, the representation of such a story and such characters in opera was considered an impudent disgrace and a gross misunderstanding. Nowadays, when new customs and traditions have replaced the old ones, people are not so astonished by the majority of things which long time ago were regarded as a taboo. The music, however, has retained its rich southern temperament, exciting and convincing notes.
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Giusseppe VERDI
Rigoletto
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“To my mind, one of the most remarkable plots that I have written music to is „Rigoletto“. There are breathtaking moments, outstanding contrasts, mercurial temperaments and pathetic scenes. All the intrigues including Rigoletto’s fears and Gilda’s passion evolve from a flippant and frantic personality of a duke. It makes the dramatic moments lively, of which the most amazing and convincing is the scene of a quartet.“
(G. Verdi, 1853 04 22)
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Giovanni Battista PERGOLESI
The Maid as Mistress
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The action takes place in Italy in the 18th century.
A maid Serpina (the name means “a little serpent”) looks after the household of a rich bachelor Ubert. To free himself from Serpina's tyranny, Uberto decides to marry and asks his servant Vespone to find him a wife. Serpina retorts that she herself will become the hostess of the house.
First of all, the maid tries to find out whether she is trusted – she does so by pretending to be married to a “Captain Blusterer” who is a disguised servant Vespone. After meeting the rude soldier, Ubert feels sorry for Serpina. When Serpina insists on Master’s paying a dowry or marrying her, Uberto chooses the second option – that of marrying her and so he turns a maid into a mistress of the house.
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Igor STRAVINSKIJ
Oedipus the King
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The opera-oratorio “Oedypus Rex” (“King Oedipus”) written by Igor Stravinsky is a magnificent monumental fresco. In comparison to other compositions written by this composer, this opera presents the amazing drama of the main hero – king Oedipus. Those who are already familiar with diversity of feelings and dramatic passion presented by Sophocles may find the sound of the opera-oratorio equable, even ascetic. Stravinsky remained faithful to his anti-romantic credo: he didn’t seek to achieve the emotive passion and didn’t intend to deepen an already deep conflict. The most significant aim for this composer was to convey the sublimity of Sophocles’ epic tragedy.
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Gioacchino ROSSINI
Barber of Seville
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Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) was one of the greatest composers of Italian opera. In his earlier operas “The Italian Girl in Algiers” and “Tancredi” he continued the tradition of Christoph Willibald von Gluck and W.A. Mozart, formed his individual style and created forty operas ranging in their content. Among the most dramatic operas of this composer are “Otello” (by Shakespeare), “Moses in Egypt”, “Semiramide”, among the most comic – “Cinderella”, “The Turk in Italy”, “The Earl of Ory” and the popular “Barber of Seville”.
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Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART
Don Juan
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Don Juan is the unsurpassed musical masterpiece of Mozart’s genius. This joyful drama could have brought him an everlasting fame even if he had not written anything else. The biographers of the great composer claim that the opera reflects real ‘father –son’ relations and the true-to-life son’s drama is depicted by the composer himself.
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Claudio MONTEVERDI
L'Orfeo
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Opera in 2 parts (in Italian)
The popular legend tells about Orpheus who was the son of the River-King Oeagrus (Appolo is another variant) and muse Calliope. Orpheus was a famous musician and singer, whose magic music could enchant and move to sleep not only people, but the Gods and nature itself.
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Zigmars LIEPINŠ
Notre-Dame de Paris
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Opera-melodrama in 3 acts
Notre Dame de Paris is created by the most popular modern Latvian composer Z. Liepinsh. The success of the opera-melodrama was achieved not only by the original and absorbing opera language, but also due to the durability and glory of the 19th c. French Romantic Victor Hugo. It is an exciting story about the oppositions existing in the world and personality: beauty and ugliness, good and evil, the divine and atrocious origins; the convincing stage management and the honest performance of actors touch everybody’s hearts.
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Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART
The Marriage of Figaro
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Comic opera in 4 parts
This is a typically classical opera, which does not submit to the urgencies of modern life, does not propose any realities with our period. It is a wonderful oasis for the mind and soul to rest from the annoying little nothings of everyday, to delve into the everlasting love passion and peripheries or just to meditate in relaxation when the music sounds so perfectly arranged and the most magnificent crinolines are rustling to the tact on the stage…
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Vidmantas BARTULIS
The Morning Star
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Claude DEBUSSY
Pelléas and Mélisande
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Audronė ŽIGAITYTĖ
Frank'Einstein: The 21st Century
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Opera-phantasmagoria in 3 acts
The eternal issue – search for the perfect man – is presented in the present-day context of the small country – Lithuania. The action takes place in our time and in everyday surroundings: in a bar, a park, at Professor’s home (in the living room and his laboratory).
The main conflict of the opera arises between Professor, a deep-thinking man who is searching for future prospects, and an inert crowd. Professor hates “Their” pettiness and indifference to global processes which nobody tries to stop: third countries are developing an nuclear bomb, the earth’s population is growing at a catastrophic speed, while the resources are being depleted.
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Henry PURCELL
Dido and Aeneas
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Opera in 2 parts and 3 acts
A baroque opera “Dido and Aeneas” by a famous XVII century English music composer Henry Purcell (1659–1695) mesmerizingly shows the tragic love story of Dido, Queen of Carthage and the Trojan Aeneas. The libretto was written by Nahum Tate at that time a famous English poet (1652–1715) in accordance with Virgil’s poem “Aeneid”.
Duration ~ 1 h. 30 min.
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Giacomo PUCCINI
"Suor Angelica", "Gianni Schicchi"
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Libretto by G. Forzano
Diptych of one act operas
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