Spanish Symphony. LNSO, Kristīne Balanas, Victorien Vanoosten

Performers: LITHUANIAN NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (Artistic Director and Chief Conductor Modestas Pitrėnas) Soloist KRISTĪNE BALANAS (violin, Latvia) Conductor VICTORIEN VANOOSTEN (France) Programme: EMMANUEL CHABRIER – Rhapsody for Orchestra "España" ÉDOUARD LALO – "Symphonie espagnole" for violin and orchestra in D minor, Op. 21 BÉLA BARTÓK – Concerto for Orchestra, Sz. 116 This evening, the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra and its principal guest conductor Victorien Vanoosten perform with Latvian violinist Kristīne Balanas. The international press describes her playing as "wild, daring, dramatic" ("The Strad") and marvels at the soloist's transformation from a street musician and rock singer in Latvia to an internationally acclaimed classical music performer. K. Balanas is a third-prize winner of the 66th ARD Music Competition and has been awarded the Latvian Grand Prix; she has performed in concert halls such as the Berlin Philharmonie, London's "Southbank Centre", and New York's "Carnegie Hall". The programme for this concert resonates with Spanish themes. French composer Emmanuel Chabrier's Rhapsody for Orchestra "España" (1883) is one of his most prominent works, composed after a trip to Spain where he explored local folklore. Édouard Lalo, the son of a Spanish émigré, studied violin and composition at the Paris Conservatoire, and in 1875, after the famous Spanish violinist Pablo Sarasate performed his "Symphonie espagnole," Lalo gained recognition as a composer. The work is characterized by its outward brilliance, effective virtuosity, and an abundance of dance rhythms; a touch of elegiac sadness envelops some episodes. The Concerto for Orchestra, Sz. 116, was composed by Hungarian composer Béla Bartók late in his life, in 1943, after fleeing to the USA from the war in Europe. The title "Concerto for Orchestra" reflects the intention to showcase each major orchestral instrument as a soloist, combining them into competing groups, and aiming for the orchestra to reveal all its timbral colours: the opus is akin to the instrumental concerto genre, and the orchestral parts are characterized by virtuosity.

Adresas: Lietuvos nacionalinė filharmonija