GREEN AND BLUE AS A LANDSCAPE

GREEN AND BLUE AS A LANDSCAPE

Elena SVERDIOLAITĖ (soprano) Gustas RAUDONIUS (piano)

"The Art of Song" – 2nd International Vocal Chamber Music Festival

A festive welcome glass for every guest. Doors open at 18:00.

"Green and Blue as a Landscape" invites you to an unusual, vivid, and intriguing musical experience: three cycles from different eras, most of which have rarely been heard by Lithuanian audiences. Olivier Messiaen’s "Poèmes pour Mi" (Poems for Mi) opens an extraordinary sonic space—unexpected, at times mystical, at times playful, but always intense—and an immersive world where music speaks with its own unique logic. E. W. Korngold’s songs are characterized by a dreamy, ethereal lyricism capable of surprising and captivating the listener. F. Liszt's "Three Petrarch Sonnets" complete the landscape with a virtuoso, poetic palette, leaving space for the listener to observe, feel, and dream.

PROGRAMME

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) Poèmes pour Mi (Poems for Mi)

Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957) Three Songs, Op. 22

Ferenc Liszt (1811-1886) Three Petrarch Sonnets, S.270

Singer Elena Sverdiolaitė is highly accomplished in the operatic repertoire but is also a passionate creator of original song recitals. In the 2025/26 season, she is a soloist at the Wuppertal Opera and a guest performer at the Essen Opera. During 2024/25, Elena Sverdiolaitė was a member of the Opera Studio at Theater Münster.

After completing her bachelor’s degree at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, she continued her studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, where she earned her master’s degree with honors in 2023. That same year, she won two special prizes at the C. Orff Competition: the C. Orff Center Prize and the Richard Strauss Institute Prize, subsequently performing recitals with pianist Gustas Raudonius in Munich and Garmisch-Partenkirchen. In 2025, she won the main prize at the G. Puccini Opera Competition and was awarded the R. Wagner Scholarship.

In 2021/22, Elena Sverdiolaitė was a fellow of the Anny Felbermayer and the "Amicitia" Young Singers Support Society.

On various stages, Elena has performed roles such as: Donna Anna (Mozart’s "Don Giovanni"), Violetta (Verdi’s "La Traviata"), Gretel (Humperdinck’s "Hansel and Gretel"), Rodelinda (Handel’s "Rodelinda"), Elettra (Mozart’s "Idomeneo"), Musetta (Puccini’s "La Bohème"), Pamina (Mozart’s "The Magic Flute"), Najade (R. Strauss’s "Ariadne auf Naxos"), Meleagro (Gluck’s "La Corona"), and others.

Pianist Gustas Raudonius, the Grand Prix winner of the prestigious Nadia and Lili Boulanger International Competition, graduated from the National M.K. Čiurlionis School of Art in 2015 with a major in piano and an elective in composition. In 2019, he continued his studies at the Music Academy of Vytautas Magnus University. Gustas specialized in the Art of Song at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf, where he earned a Master’s degree in Lied. Since 2024, he has served as a faculty member at this institution and performs with world-renowned Lied singers. In 2022, he recorded song cycles by R. Schumann and O. Messiaen with mezzo-soprano Valerie Eickhoff and soprano Julia Wirth for the German national broadcaster SWR, and recorded R. Schumann, R. Strauss, and A. Berg cycles with baritone Konrad Jarnot. In 2024, together with Lithuanian baritone Tomas Kildišius, Gustas won the Grand Prix at the Nadia and Lili Boulanger Art Song Competition in Paris.

"What an impressive variety of styles and musical signatures—and what natural talent Elena Sverdiolaitė showed in interpreting extremely complex and demanding songs. She is perfectly suited for grand operatic expression, such as Strauss’s 'Cäcilie' or Duparc’s 'La Vague et la cloche,' as well as the French lyricism of Debussy, Messiaen’s early song 'Action de grâces,' or the brilliant contemporary work 'Parfum de L’instant' by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho." (Robert Jungwirth, "Curiosity and Suggestion," A special song recital by young soprano Elena Sverdiolaitė at the Munich Orff Center / klassikinfo.de, 2024-06-05)

"Sverdiolaitė made a bold stage statement for the future that evening with her maturity, musicality, and restraint (not merely acting, but sincerely living through the music), while regarding pianist Raudonius—who reliably and flexibly helped shape the imagery—I thought that soon I might be able to call him 'the Lithuanian Lepper'." (Laimutė Ligeikaitė, "Long Journey to the Mountains" / Echoes of the 28th International Thomas Mann Festival / "7 meno dienos," 2024-09-06)