Kostas Smoriginas & Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra

Opening night of the 23rd concert season will feature one of Lithuania’s most distinguished opera soloists, bass-baritone Kostas Smoriginas, performing together with the Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra. Since his debut at the Berlin State Opera, his career has taken him to many of the world’s leading stages, including the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, La Scala in Milan, the Semperoper in Dresden, and numerous other renowned international opera houses. In 2023, he was named Opera Soloist of the Year and received Lithuania’s prestigious Golden Stage Cross for his portrayal of Amonasro in Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida. Alongside his major operatic roles, chamber music holds a special place in Smoriginas’s repertoire, where not only the beauty of the voice but also the power of the text, character, and storytelling come to the fore.

The opening concert of the new season, A Musical Mosaic of Lithuanian Songs, presents a programme of Lithuanian vocal and instrumental music. At its heart is the Lithuanian art song, featuring works by Stasys Šimkus, Vytautas Klova, Algimantas Raudonikis, Jurgis Karnavičius, and other composers whose music preserves the melodies, stories, and traditions of different generations. The vocal programme is complemented by instrumental works for string orchestra by Lithuanian composers, including Mikalojus Konstantinas Oginskis, Bronius Kutavičius, Faustas Latėnas, Tomas Makačinas, Nijolė Sinkevičiūtė, and others. Together, these works trace the development of Lithuanian music—from its roots in folk traditions and the ideals of Romanticism to the diverse aesthetic movements of the 20th century that shaped Lithuania’s professional musical culture.