On June 20, the Pažaislis Music Festival invites listeners to the Gothic-style Old Zapyškis Church, where a romantic concert of impressionist music will be performed by true masters of chamber music. Maurice Ravel’s string quartet, which marked a stylistic turning point, and Johannes Brahms’s piano quintet, inspired by Clara Schumann, will be performed by the Vilnius State Quartet and pianist Martyna Jatkauskaitė, who is currently based in Greece.
The Vilnius State Quartet, featuring violinists Dalia Kuznecovaitė and Algirdas Šochas, violist Kristina Anusevičiūtė, and cellist Viktor Rekalo, is a prominent representative of Lithuanian chamber music with a long history. The ensemble, now in its second generation of musicians, has toured numerous countries and performed in such prestigious venues as New York’s Carnegie Hall, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, Vienna’s Musikverein, and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and has appeared at major international festivals—Bregenz (Austria), Schleswig-Holstein (Germany), and Hector Berlioz (France). The quartet regularly participates in major international events of national importance, has made numerous recordings for radio archives, and has released over 40 vinyl and CD albums.
Born in Kaunas, M. Jatkauskaitė is one of Lithuania’s most internationally acclaimed pianists. A laureate of numerous international competitions, she consistently impresses critics with her technical skill and masterful sense of interpretation across a wide-ranging repertoire. The artist has performed in many European countries, as well as in Japan, the U.S., Canada, Cambodia, and Thailand; she has appeared at London’s Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, and Barbican Hall, Milan’s “Sala Verdi,” and Thessaloniki’s “Megaron,” and has performed with the London Festival Orchestra, the South West Philharmonic, the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, and other ensembles. In addition to her solo performances, M. Jatkauskaitė greatly enjoys playing in chamber ensembles, so this performance in her native Lithuania with the Vilnius State Quartet will be a true celebration of the joy of music-making for both her and the festival audience.
The concert is organized in collaboration with the Kaunas State Philharmonic
