Kaunas State Choir
The Kaunas State Choir came into being in October 1969. Led by Professor Petras Bingelis, a winner of the Lithuanian National Prize, the choir went forward step by step, actively and determinedly, from small pieces, folk songs, and compositions by Lithuanian composers and occasional ones to the first performance of Mozart's Requiem in 1971. Later the choir compiled a repertoire of large-scale classical compositions and created its own image making full use of its potential.
The Kaunas State Choir was first acknowledged internationally in 1982, after performing Mikis Theodorakis' Spring Symphony in Berlin and Paris. After Lithuania regained its independence and the Iron Curtain fell, the choir's concert life became even more active and eventful, especially when its collaboration with the legendary violinist and conductor Lord Yehudi Menuhin began. The year 1992, when the New and Old Ways to India Festival, dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America, took place, was an important year for the choir. Many European newspapers called the Kaunas State Choir the greatest musical discovery of the year. The theatrical performances of Handel's Messiah, with Lord Yehudi Menuhin on the conductor's podium, have toured France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Egypt, Russia, and other countries. The concert version of the oratorio has been performed also in Argentina and Chile and the Kaunas State Choir soon found itself among the most outstanding choirs of Europe.
In the first years of independence, the collaboration with the renowned German pianist, conductor and active organiser began. He first conducted the choir in the summer of 1992 in Vilnius. Later they appeared together at the Schleswig-Holstein Festival in Germany, and at the New Year Festival in Maspalomas (the Canary Islands). One of the most significant performances of the choir was that with the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Justus Frantz at the Berlin Stadium, where it was applauded by an audience of 75,000. In 1996, during a concert tour in East European post-socialist countries, Mahler's Second Symphony was performed in Moscow, Warsaw, Budapest Bratislava, Prague, and elsewhere.
At the turn of the century, the collaboration between the Kaunas State Choir and the celebrated Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki began. Under the baton of the author, the choir performed Penderecki's Seven Gates of Jerusalem in St Petersburg in 2001, and, in the summer of 2003, Te Deum at the Colmar Festival (France) and St. Luke Passion at the Festival of European Church Music in Schwäbisch Gmünd (Germany).
The Kaunas State Choir has established a creative friendship with the famous cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich. Their collaboration began in 1998 in Cologne, Germany, with the performance of Sofia Gubaidulina's Sonnengesang (Sun Songs) for percussion, choir and cello. After that, the choir was invited to perform Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in the French resort town of Evian. Together with the celebrated musician, they appeared also in Gstaadt (Switzerland), where alongside Beethoven's Ninth Symphony they sang Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. On 8 January 2001, the choir gave a concert at the Théâtre des Champs d'Elisèes in Paris.
On 12 January 2003, at the UNESCO Gala in the Gendarmenmarkt Concert Hall in Berlin, the Kaunas State Choir was awarded a special diploma for the performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, which has been included in the Memory of the World Register.
In February 2003, the choir appeared in Rome, at the opening ceremony of one of the world's largest concert venues, Auditorium Parco della Musica. The opening concerts in the Sinopoli Hall featured the Kaunas State Choir performing, together with the Academia di Santa Cecilia Symphony Orchestra and other guest performers, Gustav Mahler's Eighth Symphony in E flat major under the baton of the Korean conductor Myung-Whung Chung.
The Kaunas State Choir has participated in many international music festivals, including the Bordeaux Spring and Mediterranean Sea festivals, festivals in Reims and Strasbourg (France), the New and Old Ways to India (Spain), the Schleswig-Holstein Festival and the Festival of the Countries of Middle Europe (Germany), festivals in Turku (Finland), Bergen (Norway), and Maspalomas (the Canary Islands). It has collaborated with many famous orchestras, from Paris, Bordeaux, Poland, Moscow, St Petersburg, the Colon Theatre Orchestra, and many others. It has performed under the direction of many outstanding conductors, including Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Justus Frantz, Ivo Raichev, Dmitri Kitayenko, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Yuri Bashmet, Juozas Domarkas, Saulius Sondeckis, Jonas Aleksa, and Gintaras Rinkevičius.
Lithuanian Composers
Vaclovas Augustinas
Prayer for My Country
Algimantas Bražinskas
To a Man and the World
Osvaldas Balakauskas
Requiem
Kazimieras Viktoras Banaitis
Long Live, the Land of our Fathers
Vidmantas Bartulis
Poor Little Man Job
Kuršiai
Mozart‘s Birthday
Requiem
Agnus Dei
Pranciškus Beinaris
Requiem
Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis
De profundis
Nerija Čepaitė
Requiem
Julius Juzeliūnas
Man‘s Lyre
Symphony of Proverbs
Cantus Magnificat
Vladas Jakubėnas
De profundis
My World
Aloyzas Jurgutis
Cantata
Jeronimas Kačinskas
Black Ship
Hymn of the Future
Bronius Kutavičius
Epitaphium temporum pereunti
The Tree of the World
Pantheistic Oratorio
Giedrius Kuprevičius
David‘s Seven Questions and Lament
Creation of the World for the End of the 20th century
Power and Tears
Pagan Hymns
Missa catacumbae
Lux aeterna
Dalia Kairaitytė
Te Deum laudamus
Algirdas Martinaitis
Our Freedom: Seven Invocations
A Letter to All the Faithful
Teisutis Makačinas
The Sun Poem
Pieta
Juozas Naujalis
Autumn
Missa in Honorem Sacrorum Vulnerum Christi
Onutė Narbutaitė
Tres dei Matris Symphoniae
Mikas Petrauskas
Birutė
Rimvydas Racevičius
Oratorio
Česlovas Sasnauskas
Brothers
Requiem
Stasys Šimkus
In Honour of Lithuanian Freedom Fighters
Farewell to Motherland
Vladas Švedas
Our Freedom
Jonas Tamulionis
Seven Dedications to Lithuania
Oratorios Cantatas Mass
Vyacheslav Artyomov
Requiem
Hilarion Alfeyev
Strasti po Matfeju
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johannes – Passion
Matthäus – Passion
Weihnachts – Oratorium
Magnificat in D minor, BWV 243
Ludwig van Beethoven
Christus am Oelberge
Missa Solemnis
Hector Berlioz
Requiem op. 5
Te Deum op. 22
L'Enfance du Christ
Leonard Bernstein
Chichester Psalms
Mass
Anton Bruckner
Te Deum
Messe No. 3
Luigi Cherubini
Requiem in D minor
Requiem in C minor
Théodore Dubois
Les Sept Paroles du Christ
Antonin Dvorak
Requiem, op. 89
Stabat Mater, op. 58
The Spectre‘s Bride, op. 69
Te Deum, op. 103
Maurice Durufle
Requiem op. 9
Edward Elgar
The Dream of Gerontius, op. 38
Gabriel Faure
Requiem
Edwin Geist
Requiem
Henryk Gorecki
Beatus vir, op. 38
Charles Gounod
Messe solennelle de Sainte Cecile
George Frideric Handel
Messiah, HWV 56
Ode for St. Cecilia‘s Day
Dixit Dominus, Op. 109
Joseph Haydn
Missa in Tempore Belli
Die Schopfung, Hob. XXI: 2
Missa in Angustis d-moll
Die sieben letzten Worte
Te Deum
Hidas Frigyes
Requiem
Leoš Janaček
Glagolitic Mass (Mša glagolskaja), for soloists, double chorus, orchestra, and organ, JW 3/9
Dmitri Kabalevski
Requiem
Franz Liszt
Psalm XIII for choir and orchestra
Christus, S.3
Jacques Loussier
Mass „Lumičres“
Paul McCartney
Ecce cor meum
Felix Mendelssohn–Bartholdy
Elias op. 70
Paulus op. 36
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Requiem
Missa Brevis in D major
Vespere Solemnes di Confessore
Davide Penitente
Laudate Dominum
Krzysztof Penderecki
Passio... Secundum Lucam
Te Deum
Seven Gates of Jarusalem
Polskie Requiem
Credo
Francis Poulenc
Gloria, FP 177
Stabat Mater, FP 148
Gioachino Rossini
Messe Solennelle
Stabat Mater
Messa per Rossini
Espen Selvik
Abraham
Camille Saint-Saens
Le Déluge, op. 45
Oratorio de Noel, op. 12
Alfred Schnittke
Faust Cantata
Franz Schubert
Mass in C major
Mass in G major
Mass in A flat major
Stabat Mater
Igor Stravinsky
The Wedding / Свадебка
Georgy Sviridov
Spring cantata
John Tavener
The Myrrh-Bearer
Georg Philipp Telemann
Wieder die falschen Propheten
Giuseppe Verdi
Quatro Pezzi Sacri
Messa da Requiem
Antonio Vivaldi
Beatus Vir, RV 597
Credo e-moll, RV 587
Gloria, RV 599
Kyrie g-moll, RV 587
Magnificat
Mikolaj Zielenski
Magnificat
Vaughan Williams
Dona nobis pacem
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Requiem
Vocal Orchestral Works
Ludwig van Beethoven
Fantasie for piano, choir and orchestra
IX Symphony
Hector Berlioz
Damnation de Faust
Leonard Bernstein
Kaddish
West Side Story suite
Johannes Brahms
Deutsches Requiem op. 45
Benjamin Britten
War Requiem op. 66
Edward Elgar
The Music Makers, op. 69
Edvard Grieg
Landerkennung op. 31
Olav Tryggvason, op. 50
George Frideric Handel
Samson
Joseph Haydn
Die Jahreszeiten, Hob. XXI
Gustav Holst
The Planets, op. 32
Arthur Honegger
Jeanne d‘Arc au bucher
Leoš Janaček
Amarus
Gia Kancheli
Styx
Gustav Mahler
II Symphony
III Symphony
VIII Symphony
Das klagende Lied
Olivier Messiaen
La Transfiguration
Carl Orff
Carmina Burana
Trionfo di Afrodite
Catulli Carmina
Krzysztof Penderecki
Credo
Seven Gates of Jerusalem
Sergei Prokofiev
Alexander Nevsky op. 78
Ivan Grozny, op. 116
Maurice Ravel
Daphnis et Chloe
Gioachino Rossini
Semiramide
Sergei Rachmaninov
Kolokola, op.35
Vsenoshchnoe bdenie, op. 37
Arnold Schönberg
Gurrelieder
Dmitri Shostakovich
Казнь Степана Разина
XIII Симфония
Ledi Makbet Mtsenskogo Uyezda
Igor Stravinsky
Симфония псалмов
Mikis Theodorakis
VII Symphony
Opera
Alexander Borodin
Половецкие пляски
Edvard Grieg
Olav Trygvason
Ruggiero Leoncavallo
Pagliacci
Pietro Mascagni
Cavaleria rusticana
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
„Die Zauberflöte“
Don Giovanni, K 527
Modest Mussorgsky
Борис Годунов
Giocomo Puccini
Tosca
La Rondine
Gioachino Rossini
Tancredi
Camille Saint-Saens
Samson et Dalila
Dmitri Shostakovich
Катерина Измайлова
Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Пиковая дама
Giuseppe Verdi
Aida
La Forza del Destino
Nabucodonosor
Otello
Simon Boccanegra
Richard Wagner
Parsifal
M.K. Čiurlionis De Profundis
Concert at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Hall, 14 May 2011
MAURICE RAVEL
Alborada del gracioso
MAX BRUCH
Concerto for violin and orchestra No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26
IGOR STRAVINSKY
„Psalmių simfonija“ chorui ir orkestrui
RICHARD STRAUSS
Tone poem Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Op. 28
LITHUANIAN NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Soloist: VILHELMAS ČEPINSKIS (violin)
KAUNAS STATE CHOIR
Conductor MODESTAS PITRĖNAS
Concert at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Hall, 18 September 2010
FELIX MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY
Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125
LITHUANIAN NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Juozas Domarkas
KAUNAS STATE CHOIR
Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Petras Bingelis
Soloists:
SERGEJ KRYLOV (violin, Italy)
ASTA KRIKŠČIŪNAITĖ (soprano)
RITA NOVIKAITĖ (mezzo-soprano)
KĘSTUTIS ALČAUSKIS (tenor)
LIUDAS NORVAIŠAS (bass)
Conductor JUOZAS DOMARKAS
Concert in Vilnius Congress Concert Hall, 21 May 2010
The closing concert of the season
A. Honegger
Oratory “Jeanne d’Arc au bucher”
DONATA RINKEVIČIENĖ, Jeane d’Arc
VLADAS BAGDONAS, Brother Dominic
ASMIK GRIGORIAN, soprano
SANDRA JANUŠAITĖ, soprano
JOVITA VAŠKEVIČIŪTĖ, mezzo-soprano
RAFAILAS KARPIS, tenor
VLADIMIRAS PRUDNIKOVAS, bass
Kaunas State Chorus (leader PETRAS BINGELIS)
Chorus Liepaitės (leader ARTŪRAS DAMBRAUSKAS)
The soloists perform singing and speaking parts
Conductor GINTARAS RINKEVIČIUS
Concert in Vilnius Congress Concert Hall, 1 April 2010
A symphony concert
“A Concert on Maundy Thursday”
Mozart
Requiem, K 626
ASMIK GRIGORIAN, soprano
IEVA PRUDNIKOVAITĖ, mezzo-soprano
EDMUNDAS SEILIUS, tenor
IGNAS MISIŪRA, bass
Kaunas State Choir (leader PETRAS BINGELIS)
Conductor GINTARAS RINKEVIČIUS
Concert in Vilnius Congress Palace, “The Queen Symphony”, 26, 27 December 2009
“The Queen Symphony”
Symphony for orchestra, choir and soloists
Written after the songs by Freddie Mercury and Queen (arranged by Tolga Kashif, orchestrated by Julian Kershaw)
SAULĖ RINKEVIČIŪTĖ, violin
RŪTA RINKEVIČIŪTĖ, piano
VITA ŠIUGŽDINIENĖ, cello
Kaunas State Choir (leader PETRAS BINGELIS)
Ąžuoliukas Choir (leader VYTAUTAS MIŠKINIS)
Conductor GINTARAS RINKEVIČIUS
Concert at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Hall, November 7, 2009
Vilnius Piano Music Festival
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770–1827)
Triple Concerto for violin, cello and piano in C major, Op. 56
Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67
Choral Fantasy for piano, chorus and orchestra in C minor, Op. 80
Vilnius Piano Music Festival
LITHUANIAN NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Juozas Domarkas
KAUNAS STATE CHOIR
Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Petras Bingelis
Soloists:
MŪZA RUBACKYTĖ (piano)
MICHAEL LUDWIG (violin, USA)
LÁSZLÓ FENYÖ (cello, Hungary)
Conductor JOANN FALLETTA (USA)
XIII International Contemporary Music Festival IŠ ARTI, Kaunas State Philharmonic Hall, 11 23 2008
LITVA, LITUA, LITOVIA, LITHUANIA...
Daiva Rokaitė I've drifted apart, gone far away (2008, premiere)
Dalia Kairaitytė Music Downstream (2008, premiere)
Vladas Švedas Lithuanian Rhapsody (1974, premiere)
Vytautas Germanavičius Psalms for the Unborn (or Returning Home...) (2008, premiere)
Antanas Kučinskas Back to the Future (2008, premiere)
Algirdas Martinaitis Short history lesson for adults (2008, premiere)
KAUNAS STATE CHOIR
Piano trio KASKADOS
Rusnė Mataitytė – violin
Edmundas Kulikauskas - cello
Albina Šikšniūtė – piano
Conductor
Petras Bingelis
Concert at Klaipėda's Concert Hall, 02 24 2007
Franz Jozeph Haydn
„The Creation“
Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra
(Principal conductor – Modestas Pitrėnas)
Kaunas National Choir
(Art manager and principal conductor – Petras Bingelis)
Solosts: Asta Krikščiūnaitė (soprano), Mindaugas Zimkus (tenor), Ignas Misiūra (basso)
While traveling across the Baltic countries, I understood that their choral singing has achieved very high standards. Lately I have experienced great pleasure while working with the Kaunas State Choir in Argentina and Germany. Your small country has an artistic potential of world standard, and it is amazing that it can influence world musical culture...
Lord Yehudi Menuhin - Lietuvos Rytas, 10 December 1994
I have met the singers from Kaunas for the first time. Their skills have made me happy. They sing religious hymns and prayers in Latin as if they have been singing them from the moment of their birth.
Mstislav Rostropovich - Lietuvos Rytas, 9 February 1998
The Kaunas State Choir is a very versatile collective. (…) Today, their singing sounded like the flow of a spring. For that, I am very grateful to them, and to their leader, Petras Bingelis.
Yan Pascal Tortelier - Kauno Diena, 3 June 1998
The Kaunas State Choir seems able to do anything. This is not only because of the specially good voices that have been brought together, but also because the members of it are used to working inventively. It is amazing how they feel and respond to the emotions of a conductor standing in front of them.
Jonas Aleksa - Kultūros Barai, 1983
