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banchetto musicale

18 September, 7 pm
Palace of the Grand Dukes, Katedros a. 4, Vilnius

The pillars of heaven
Music by Salamone Rossi (c.1570–1630) and Gintautas Venislovas (born 1973)

Project directors Gintautas Venislovas and Darius Stabinskas

Ieva Gaidamavičiūtė-Barkauskė – soprano, Nora Petročenko – alto, Mindaugas Bargaila - tenor, Povilas Vanžodis - tenor, Nerijus Masevičius - bass
Instrumental ensemble: Stefano Rossi – violin (Italy / Germany), Raimonds Melderis – violin (Latvia), Alina Rotaru – organ, harpsichord (Germany / Lithuania), Darius Stabinskas – cello, Arkady Gotesman – percussion


This unique project was brought to life to commemorate two important celebrations in the history of our country: the 300th anniversary in 2020 of the wise Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, the Gaon of Vilnius; and the 100th anniversary this year of the birth of Lithuanian Jewish poet, Matilda Olkinaitė. The music consists partly of Hebrew psalms and hymns by Venetian composer Salamone Rossi (c.1570–1630), one of only a few Jewish composers of his time in Italy who was able to work freely in both a European and a Jewish cultural context.
The other musical part of the project consists of new works by Gintautas Venislovas, composed around verses from the poetry of Matilda Olkinaitė. Matilda was a poet of rare talent who lived to the age of just 19 years, when she was killed along with her parents and sisters in Panemunėlis during the Holocaust. These two musical elements, together with improvised interludes of percussion by Arkady Gotesman, form the basis of a newly created musical documentary film, ‘Pillars of Heaven – Sounding Synagogues’ (dir: Laurynas Valkiūnas), which will premiere in autumn this year.

* Here you can download the concert programme.


Tickets: 6.20-21.50 €



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