Aleksandra Žvirblytė
Aleksandra Žvirblytė has completed her studies at the Lithuanian Academy of Music with Prof. O. Šteinbergaitė in 1989; in 1989–1991 she attended a postgraduate course at the famous P.Tchaikovsky Conservatoire in Moscow where she studied with the globally renowned teachers Lev Vlasenko, Mikhail Pletniov and Nikolai Suk. Later she studied in Germany and Switzerland (Prof. B. Ringeissen, R. Buchbinder, K. H. Kammerling). The performer became a prizewinner of the M. K Čiurlionis International Piano Competition (Vilnius, 1989 and 1991) and of Y.K.A.A. (Young Keyboard Artists Association) International Piano Competition (Oberlin, USA 1991). In 1999 she won Grand Prix at N. Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Paris.
Aleksandra Žvirblytė has been constantly performing in all major cities and towns of Lithuania; she has toured Russia (St. Petersburg, Moscow), Ukraine (Lvov), Latvia, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Poland, Germany, Switzerland and USA. She has been performing with the Lithuanian Chamber, Lithuanian National Symphony, Kharkov Philharmonic, St.Petersburg Conservatoire Symphony and Musical Theatre Symphony, Bulgarian Conservatoire Symphony and other orchestras under the baton of Saulius Sondeckis, Gintaras Rinkevičius, Juozas Domarkas, Mindaugas Piečaitis, Alvydas Šulčys, Christo Christov, Aleksei Kolobukhin and Oliver Weder. The pianist has been also performing chamber music in ensembles with the singers Inesa Linaburgytė, G. Skerytė, Liubov Chuchrova, violinists Dalia Stulgytė and Algirdas Verbauskas, clarinetist Algirdas Budrys, French horn player Mindaugas Gecevičius and percussionist Pavelas Giunteris. Her repertoire includes music of various styles, epochs and genres, also opuses by Lithuanian composers – she was the first to perform many of them. Žvirblytė has been participating in music festivals in Lithuania, France and Denmark; she has recorded many opuses for Lithuanian Radio and has published an audiotape and a CD. “Epical thinking, the concentration of thought, the harmony between the emotional and the rational are characteristic to A. Žvirblytė’s musical style. Understanding of every composer’s spiritual values and varied means of expression help her to find profound artistic interpretations. The solutions for the architectonic structure and development of an opus are dictated by her professional mastery and warmed with sincere emotion; her music is inspired by an artistic nature.” (R. Kryžauskienė, Kalba Vilnius)
Aleksandra Žvirblytė is Associated Professor at the Piano Department, Lithuanian Academy of Music; she also holds master classes, gives presentations at academic-methodical conferences and is a member of juries of international competitions. Her students have been winning prizes in more than 20 international piano competitions and performing as soloists as well as with orchestras and various ensembles in Lithuania, European Union and United States.
Lithuanian Composers
Osvaldas Balakauskas
Three pieces, for piano solo
Vytautas Barkauskas
"Legend about Čiurlionis", for piano solo
Variations, for two pianos
Algirdas Bružas
Concerto for two pianos and chamber orchestra Piligrimų pasakojimai
Nerija Čepaitė
Concerto for two pianos and chamber orchestra
Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis
Preludes: VL 268, Vl 256, VL 294
Fugue in B flat minor, VL 345
Organ preludes (for two pianos): in A minor, in F-minor, in G major
Vytautas Laurušas
Preludes and Fugues, for piano solo
Leonas Povilaitis
Toccata, for piano solo
Pieces, for piano four hands
Alvidas Remesa
"Stigmata cycle" for two pianos
Vladas Švedas
Pathetic Concerto, for two pianos and five percussion
Chamber Works
Ludwig van Beethoven
Sonata for violin and piano No.5 in F major, op.24 ("Spring")
Johannes Brahms
Sonata for violin and piano No.1 in G major ("Regen"), op.78
Sonata for violin and pianoNo.2 in A major ("Thun"), op.100
Sonata for violin and piano No.3 in D minor, op.108
Trio for violin, French horn and piano in E flat minor, op.40
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sonata for violin and piano No.26 in B flat major, K.378
Robert Schumann
Piano quintet in E flat major, op.44
Phantasiestück for clarinet and piano, op73
Dmitri Shostakovich
Trio for violin, cello and piano No.2 in E minor op.67
Quintet for piano and strings, op.57 in G minor
Piano Four Hands
Johannes Brahms
Ungarische Tänze, for piano four hands
Sergei Rachmaninov
Suite No.1 (Fantaisie-tableaux) in G minor, op.5 (for two pianos)
Morceaux (6), pieces for piano four hands, op.11
Works for piano solo
Isaac Albeniz
Cordoba, Seguidillas from Chants d'Espagne, op.232
Johann Sebastian Bach
Overture in the French Style in B minor, BWV 831
Partita for keyboard No.3 in A minor, BWV 827
Jesu bleibet meine Freude from Cantata No.147 Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147
Well Tempered Clavier, Book I and II
Toccata in F sharp minor, BWV 827
Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Sonata No.17 in D minor, op.31/2, Tempes
Piano Sonata No.18 in E flat major, op.31/3, Hunt
Piano Sonata No.21 in C major, op.53, Waldstein
Piano Sonata No.32 in C minor, op.111
Piano Sonata No.8 in C minor, op.13, Pathétique
Alban Berg
Piano Sonata, op.1
Johannes Brahms
Pieces for piano, op.118
Variations on an Original Theme in D major for piano, op.21/1
Ferruccio Busoni
Chaconne in D minor (after Bach's Violin Partita No.2, BWV 1004), for piano
Frederic Chopin
Ballade for piano No.3 in A flat major, op.47
Fantasy in F minor, op.49
Nocturnes: No.4 in F major, op.15 No.1; No.5 in F sharp major, op.15 No.2; No.13 in C minor, op.48 No.1
Polonaises: No.1 in C sharp minor, op.26; No.6 in A flat major (Heroique), op.53
Waltzes: No.6 in D flat major, op.64 No.1; No.7 in C sharp minor, op.64 No.2; No.9 in A flat major (L'adieu), op.69 No.1
Etudes: op.10 No.1, 3, 4, 7, 10, 11, 12; op.25 No.7, 9, 11, 12
Mazurkas op.17
Claude Debussy
L'isle joyeuse, L.106
Preludes
Prelude Feux d'artifices
Prelude Des pas sur la neige
Enrique Granados
Allegro di concierto in C major, op.46
Edvard Grieg
Poetische Tonbilder / Poetic Tone-Picture (6), op.3
Ernesto Halffter
Habanera
Jørgen Jersild
Romanesque, Concert Pieces (3)
Franz Liszt
Liebestraum, notturnos for piano
Etudes
Aprés une lecture du Dante, fantasia quasi sonata
Piano Sonata in B minor, S. 178
Hungarian Rhapsody No.11 in A minor
Annees de pelerinage, 2nd Year ("Italy"), suite for piano
Soirees de Vienne, valse caprise for piano No.7 (transcription after Schubert, D.365)
Erlkönig (transcription after Schubert, D.328)
Leopold Mozart
Das Butterbrot
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Sonata No.8 in A minor, K. 310
Piano Sonata No. 12 in F major, K. 332
Variations (6) on Salve tu, Domine, in F major, K. 398
Sergei Prokofiev
Piano Sonata No. 9 in C major, op.103
Sarcasms (5), op.17
Sergei Rachmaninov
Preludes: No.3 in B flat minor, op. 23 No.2; No.5 in D major, op.23 No.4; No.6 in G minor, op.23 No.5; No.21 in B minor, op.32 No.10; No.23 in G sharp minor, op.32 No.12
Variations on a Theme of Corelli, op.42
Maurice Ravel
Gaspard de la nuit
Franz Schubert
Piano Sonata No.21 in B flat major, D. 960
Robert Schumann
Fantasie in C major, op. 17
Alexander Scriabin
Etudes (12), op.8
Sonata No.5 in F sharp major ("The Poem of Ecstasy"), op.53
Works for piano and orchestra
Johann Sebastian Bach
Harpsichord Concerto No.5 in F minor, BWV 1056
Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Concerto No.1 in C major, op.15
Piano Concerto No.3 in C minor, op.37
Johannes Brahms
Piano Concerto No.1 in D minor, op.15
Frederic Chopin
Piano Concerto No.2 in F minor, op.21
Fantasy on Polish Airs in A major, op.13
Rondo a la krakowiak in F major, op.14
Grande Polonaise in E flat major, op.22
Franz Liszt
Piano Concerto No.1 in E flat major
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concerto No.21 in C major, K. 467, Elvira Madigan
Piano Concerto No. 20 in D-minor, K. 466
Piano Concerto No.23 in A major , K. 488
Piano Concerto No.26 in D major, K. 537, Coronation
Concerto for 2 pianos and orchestra in E flat major, K. 365
Piano Concerto No. 14 in E flat major, K. 449
Sergei Rachmaninov
Piano Concerto No.3 in D minor, op.30
Camille Saint-Saens
"Carnival of the Animals", zoological fantasy
Sergei Prokofiev Sarkazms op 17
Concert at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Hall, 29 November 2014
To mark the 75th anniversary of Veronika Vitaitė
Performers:
LITHUANIAN NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Soloists: VERONIKA VITAITĖ (piano)
ALEKSANDRA ŽVIRBLYTĖ (piano)
PAULIUS ANDERSSON (piano)
Conductor ROBERTAS ŠERVENIKAS
SERGEI RACHMANINOV – Concerto for piano and orchestra No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30
CÉSAR FRANCK – Variations symphoniques for piano and orchestra, M. 46
CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS – Zoological Fantasy Le carnaval des animaux for two pianos and orchestra
"Her performance of the Rachmaninov Corelli variations captivated the Audience.She imbued the Baroque theme "La Folia" with elegance and feeling wich lifted and audience to another plain. But Aleksandra Zvirblyte whilst taking pleasure with pianistic elements does not get lost in a sea of monochromatic colour, instead she brings out perfectly the various characters within the Variations. It was a wonder that she had the ability to combine the pair of The Slavic people and render the meaning of the work and play a beautiful, soaring cantilena. ... The Concert finished with a performance of Liszts Dante Sonata. There was a natural feel for the form of the piece. She played with a grand orchestral sound and a whole palette of colours. The interpretation was masterful.
Gerhard Fink. "Der Teckbote", 4. 04. 2001
"Aleksandra Zvirblytes interpretation was impressive. Her powerful, heavyweight forte gave the beginning of the Sonata a dramatic quality. Her piano quality was transparent and veil like gently blowing in the breeze yet retaining lucidity of musical thought."
Virginija Apanavičienė. "Literatūra ir menas", 2002 04 05
"Aleksandra Zvirblytes playing left a memory of a successful effort to immerse oneself in the spirit of the music and to bring to the surface the richness of the composition. Zvirblyte is seeker of the real spiritual contents of the music. Excellent technique is a pure requisite for her achieving this goal."