JUSTINA GRINGYTĖ, a mezzo-soprano who has won several prestigious awards, invites the audience to a recital featuring songs by Georges Bizet, the author of the immortal opera Carmen and the genius of French romanticism. The singer has been praised in the press for her “astonishing technique” (The Times) and “thunderously powerful voice” (Daily Telegraph). She was named Young Singer of the Year at the International Opera Awards and completed the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where she sang with Renée Fleming, Bryn Terfel and Plácido Domingo at the Opening Ceremony of the London Olympic Games. She is deservedly regarded as one of the opera world’s brightest rising stars. One of her most lauded roles is Carmen in Bizet’s Carmen, and her highly acclaimed performance with the English National Opera was shown live in cinemas.

Gringytė’s stage partner is British pianist MALCOLM MARTINEAU, considered one of the best accompanists of his generation. He is an Honorary Doctor of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, former Artistic Director of the Leeds Festival of Singing Poetry and current Artistic Director of Oxenfoord International Festival. He has worked with singers such as Elina Garanča, Sonya Yoncheva, Florian Boesch and Dame Sarah Connolly, who was a guest at the Pažaislis Music Festival last year.

Despite Bizet’s focus on composing operas, he also wrote more than fifty songs for voice and piano, many of which have stood the test of time. He drew on the style of his teacher Charles Gounod, but was able to give the songs a greater stage presence, with harmonies and textures unusual for the time. Bizet’s best-known songs are contained in the collection Vingt (20) mélodies, published in 1873. The choice of poets for the lyrics testifies to the composer’s sophisticated literary taste, and the dedications cover a wide circle of friends and colleagues, mainly singers.