On September 20, VCO will invite you to get acquainted with the backstory of the performance that attracted a record number of viewers, and at 7 p.m. the eternal drama will light up on the huge screen. The Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, led by Maestro Gintaras Rinkevičius, will thunder here more emotionally than ever, and the emotions on stage will be guided by the direction of Dalia Ibelhauptaitė.
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“For me personally, G. Verdi’s music is the closest of all – in temperament, an unstoppable flood of emotions, and its inner dramatic power. I had to wait ten years for ‘Il Trovatore’ since my last Verdi production – after all, we always created our repertoire according to the voices and capabilities of the soloists, and it was precisely ten years after our formation that they had matured enough to freely perform Verdi’s music, which requires strong dramatic voices.
In these performances, the audience could also hear many foreign soloists capable of taking on such caliber roles; these were prominent talents who had visited the world’s biggest stages. ‘Il Trovatore’ also marked the arrival of those young ‘bohemians’ to where many of these soloists are today: world-class A-list, the biggest stages, resounding with thunderous ovations from the audience and critics,” shares director D. Ibelhauptaitė.
About this G. Verdi opera, it is said that ‘Il Trovatore’ is four of the best voices on one stage. Meanwhile, after the VCO premiere, critics boldly stated: “VCO’s ‘Il Trovatore’ is not four, but five powerful voices on the concert stage of the Congress Hall.”
First of all, this opera became a huge step in the joint history of VCO and Asmik Grigorian – here she performed a large Verdi soprano role for the first time. In the role of Leonora, she not only revealed new colors of her voice but also, together with the director, sought a unique portrait of this character. They were carefully assisted by Jonas Morrell’s costumes, depicting the main heroine from a youthful and free dreamer to a life-hardened fighter whose body gradually became covered with more and more armor.
In ‘Il Trovatore’, memorable roles were created not only by VCO troupe veterans such as Laimonas Pautienius, Jovita Vaškevičiūtė, Tadas Girininkas, but also by prominent guests from the international opera world. Verdi’s music, an opera that particularly demands strong voices, opened new opportunities for collaboration with foreign soloists.
Every time these performances were shown, voices that had previously sounded at the New York Metropolitan, Houston and San Francisco operas, the Royal Opera House in London, the Bastille Opera in Paris, Teatro Real in Madrid, Deutsche Oper in Berlin, the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm, the Vienna Opera, and many others spoke in the LVSO concert hall.
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The unexpected scenography decisions for ‘Il Trovatore’ belong to the well-known stage master Marius Jacovskis. He, having replaced the often hyperrealistic ideas of British artist Dick Bird, transformed the then Congress stage into an abstract space inspired by the mountains of Iceland, whose coldness and stillness contrasted and allowed the eruption of not earth but emotional volcanoes.
In this performance, medieval history was interpreted with 21st-century means, and the ingenious costumes that combined eras and different cultures were created by Olivier Award winner Jonas Morrell (United Kingdom). His ingenuity combined Gothic style with signs of different nations and cultures and contemporary fashion, aptly reflecting the universality of the opera’s themes for any era. The works of the two artists and the stage action were united into an indivisible whole by the ingenuity of one of Lithuania’s leading lighting designers, Eugenijus Sabaliauskas.
‘Il Trovatore’ tells the story of how revenge and hatred destroy the human soul. It immerses the viewer in a whirlpool of love and envy, anger and war. The noble family and the Romani wanderers were chosen by the opera’s librettist.
As with the premiere ten years ago, today differences and commonality become sensitive and very important themes, along with questions of each of our identity, selfhood, and their values. It is a time when some are forced to leave their homes and country, fleeing with only a few valuable belongings, while others cannot fit the clothes needed for holidays abroad into a few suitcases. When parents and their children embark on journeys that may end in death for the sake of a slightly better tomorrow, while their neighbors build the highest fences, protecting themselves from those weaker than themselves. When religion is considered a tool of struggle, and a weapon in a teenager’s hand sows death daily where children’s voices once rang. Thus, slowly, the mythical seeming world of the opera’s plot, full of hatred for the foreign and unknown, continues to painfully pierce today. Are we really so different, and do we really know how to recognize the closest person?
‘Il Trovatore’ will conclude the cycle of four free ‘For the Bohemians 20’ evenings in Vilnius Town Hall Square. From September 17 to 20, it will be possible to relive the legendary Vilnius City Opera performances on the huge screen here: September 17 at 8 p.m. – ‘La Bohème’, September 18 at 8 p.m. – ‘Werther’, September 19 at 7 p.m. – ‘Sweeney Todd – the Demon Barber’, and on September 20 at 7 p.m. – ‘Il Trovatore’. Discussions and musicologists’ speeches will take place an hour before each screening, so viewers are invited to arrive earlier. All events are free, but the number of seats in Town Hall Square is limited.
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More information can be found HERE
The project is funded by: Lithuanian Council for Culture and Vilnius City Municipality
