LVSO

W. A. Mozart. Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550

A. Dvořák. Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104

David Geringas, cello

Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra

Conductor Gintaras Rinkevičius

One of the most prominent cello virtuosos in the world and a member of the contemporary classical music elite, David Geringas is celebrating his 80th birthday. The artist's incredibly broad repertoire, spanning from the early Baroque to contemporary music, highlights the musician's extraordinary curiosity, exceptionally high technical mastery, and inner flexibility. D. Geringas's intellectual precision, stylistic versatility, and intuitive sense of melody and tone have earned the musician special respect and recognition worldwide.

Born in Vilnius, the artist studied at the M. K. Čiurlionis School of Art in the cello class of Mikhail Senderov. In 1968, he graduated from the Moscow Conservatory under the legendary cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. After winning the gold medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1970, the then 24-year-old cellist, M. Rostropovich's favorite student, opened the doors to the world's most famous concert halls. Throughout his career, D. Geringas has performed as a soloist with the world's most renowned symphony orchestras: the Berlin, Vienna, Zurich, Chicago, and London Philharmonics, as well as those of Montreal, Tokyo, and others. In 1975, the cellist emigrated to Germany; he currently lives in Hamburg and is a professor at the Lübeck Academy of Music. In 2002, D. Geringas was awarded the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts, and in 2008, he was granted the title of Honorary Doctor of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre.

At the jubilee concert, D. Geringas will perform Antonín Dvořák's (1841–1904) Cello Concerto in B minor – one of the most famous concertos of this genre in the world, also known as the great, royal concerto. The melodic thematic material and instrumentation of the piece allow the listener to be transported to the refreshing landscapes of the composer's beloved Bohemia.

In the first part of the concert, D. Geringas will take the conductor's podium – under his direction, the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra will perform one of the world's most famous works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) – Symphony No. 40 in G minor. The summer of 1788 was a time of exceptional productivity for W. A. Mozart: within three months, the composer wrote his last three symphonies. Symphony No. 40 in G minor is one of only two symphonies written by the composer in minor keys, reflecting W. A. Mozart's interest in the 18th-century German spiritual and literary movement "Sturm und Drang" (Eng. Storm and Stress), which brought dramatic emotions to the forefront as a counterpoint to the rationalism of the Enlightenment that prevailed at the time.