"Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and which cannot be left unsaid." – Victor Hugo.
Inspired by these words of the poet, pianist Inga Liukaitytė from the United Kingdom, already familiar to listeners of the Magic of Music Club, presents a new concert program, Stories of the Soul. The program begins with the mysterious, moonlit Dies Lunae by Zita Bružaitė, inviting us to focus and listen to the story of Luna, the goddess of the moon. In the nighttime landscape, time seems to stand still as we gaze at the image of the moon reflected on the bottom of the lake.
After a night filled with sounds, we have Claude Debussy's Estampes. The first and second are stories about emotional journeys to countries that Debussy himself never visited. In the landscape of distant mountains, we admire the Indonesian Pagodas, from which the aroma of incense and the sounds of gamelan emanate. We enjoy the West of Granada while sitting in an outdoor restaurant, listening to the sounds of guitars and castanets, and cicadas chirping in the heat-filled air. The last story is about French gardens, painted with Monet-like brushstrokes, where a storm suddenly breaks out. Rain, thunder, and gusts of wind batter and destroy the flower-filled garden, until finally the rain subsides and the sun shines again in the sky. The first part of the concert ends with one of Debussy's most beautiful works, "L'isle joyeuse" (The Joyful Island). The soulful melodies and solemn bells tell of a celebration of joy on the island of Venus, the goddess of love. Greek mythology and impressionism intertwine in this undulating, shimmering narrative.
The highlight of the evening will be Chopin's cycle of four Ballades. These are some of the most beautiful and complex works in the entire piano repertoire, and when performed as a cycle, they merge into a single dramatic whole. These gems of Romanticism have no specific plot, so each listener can create their own imaginary story. Chopin's musical narrative intertwines drama, love and loss, bursts of joy, and tenderness that is painful to feel... These are feelings that we have all experienced, but sometimes we keep them so deeply hidden in our hearts that words cannot express them. Only music can reach them.
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This performance by Inga Liukaitytė is part of the RE:TURN project at the Magic of Music Club. The project is partly funded by the Vilnius City Municipality.
RE:TURN is a project by the Music Magic Club aimed at bringing young, professional Lithuanian musicians who currently live abroad or have recently returned to Lithuania into the cultural orbit of Vilnius. These are musicians who often have significant achievements in the international arena and are well known in other countries, but do not yet have enough opportunities to perform frequently in their homeland. This cycle aims to create conditions for them to take their rightful place among their colleagues in Lithuanian musical life and to gain recognition from music lovers in Vilnius.