Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre to give a grand gala concert at the Liepāja Concert Hall

Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre to give a grand gala concert at the Liepāja Concert Hall

On Saturday, 20 May at 19.00 the Liepāja Concert Hall “Great Amber” will welcome the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre (LNOBT) for the very first time, bringing a musically sparkling and elegant gala concert for its audience in Liepāja. Most brilliant Lithuanian opera singers Viktorija Miškūnaitė, Merūnas Vitulskis and Steponas Zonys will sing arias from the world’s most famous operas, supported by a grand orchestra under the baton of LNOBT Principal Conductor Ričardas Šumila.

This performance will become a musical cocktail of the most charming opera arias and operettas written by Western European composers. It will feature the masterpieces of such masters as Giacomo Puccini, Charles Gounod, Georges Bizet, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Giuseppe Verdi, Gioachino Rossini, Franz Lehár, Leonard Bernstein and the oeuvres of other outstanding composers.

“The atmosphere of the Liepāja Opera centenary gala is stirring in the “Great Amber”, and therefore it feels great to have the LNOBT Symphony Orchestra performing its only concert in Latvia with a triumphant season-finale gala programme. The concert programme will include a myriad of highlights from the operatic genre, but the main credit goes to the principal conductor Ričardas Šumila for a beautiful artistic gesture by including in this touring concert arias of the Lithuanian national composer Balys Dvarionas, a native of Liepāja,” says Timurs Tomsons, the CEO of the Liepāja Concert Hall.

The gala programme will culminate with the radiant soprano voice of Viktorija Miškūnaitė, whose astonishing talent to portray characters has been admired for 17 years not only in Lithuania but also on the grandest stages of Europe. Miškūnaitė’s repertoire includes such colourful roles as Mikaela (“Carmen”), Musetta (“La bohème”), Turandot (“Turandot”). For her performance as Manon (“Manon”), she won the “Opera Soloist of the Year” award and Lithuania’s most prestigious award “Golden Cross of the Stage 2016”.

The audience will also have the pleasure to meet one of the most celebrated Lithuanian tenors, Merūnas Vitulskis, performing frequently at numerous opera festivals and on the main stages of leading European opera houses – Vienna State Opera, Graz Opera, Bilbao Opera, and others. His repertoire encompasses some of the most outstanding tenor roles, including Rodolfo (La bohème), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Alfredo (La Traviata) and others.

Alongside the two featured soloists is the award-winning baritone Steponas Zonys, known for his roles as Belkori (Love Potion), Morales (Carmen) and Chonard (La bohème). Zonys enjoyed high success in international competitions and was awarded the Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite’s Award for International Merit for Lithuania. In 2019, he won the LNOBT Opera Hope of the Year Award, while in 2023 he was named Opera Soloist of the Year.

Ričardas Šumila, once under the tutelage of Gintaras Rinkevičius, will be at the conducting podium of the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Orchestra. In 2014 he was awarded the Golden Cross of the Stage in the Young Artist category for his production of “Hansel and Gretel” at the Vilnius Opera. Recently, Šumila has been working on the programming of young orchestral musicians and since 2019 he has been the Principal Conductor of LNOBT.

The concert “The Triumph of Opera. The Gala Concert of the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre” is organised by the “Lielais Dzintars” Ltd. with the support of the Liepāja Municipality and the European Regional Development Fund, for more details please visit www.lielaisdzintars.lv/en. Tickets are available at the information centre of the concert hall “Great Amber”, at the “Biļešu paradise” box office and on the website www.bilesuparadize.lv/en