Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre

Attention opera singers! LNOBT announces audition for the soloists of B. Britten's opera A Midsummer Night's Dream. The audition will take place on 28 April 2025 in Vilnius. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/dBgJ9XER #audition #operasinger #opera #theatre #LNOBT

For six evenings, the LNOBT hosted a remarkable musical feast, the guide of which was the demonic “Don Giovanni”. Wolfgang A. Mozart’s opera, which is among the ten most frequently performed operas in the world, returned to the repertoire of the largest Lithuanian theatre with an unrecognizable face. Instead of a noble palace, there are hotel suites, instead of peasants, bloated banquet guests, instead of a stone statue, a corpse in a refrigerator. However, no one could deny that this version of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni”, as presented to Lithuanians by the famous English director John Fulljames, is extremely recognizable and easy to read for today’s audience.   The set design with the interior of the hotel lobby, steel elevators and illuminated windows was created for the production by Dick Bird, the costume designer was Annemarie Woods, with lighting design by Fabiana Piccioli, and choreography by Maxine Braham.   The performances were conducted by the production's music director Valentin Egel and Martynas Staškus. The roles were performed by Steponas Zonys, Modestas Sedlevicius, Raimundas Juzuitis, Tadas Girininkas, Kseniya Bakhritdinova, Ona Kolobovaitė, Tomas Pavilionis, Krystian Adam, Gabrielė Bukinė, Kamilė Bonté, Monika Pleškytė, Lina Dambrauskaitė, Joris Rubinovas, Liudas Norvaišas, Egidijus Dauskurdis.   "Don Giovanni" is a co-production between the Greek National Opera, the Royal Danish Opera (Det Kongelige Teater), the Gothenburg Opera (GöteborgsOperan AB) and the LNOBT. Tickets for this year's November performances are already on sale.

The heads of the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian opera houses signed a memorandum of cooperation between the three Baltic states’ theatres in Vilnius.   According to the General Manager of the LNOBT Laima Vilimienė, the memorandum emphasizes the readiness of these theatres for significant joint work. This could include the organization of mutual tour exchanges, concerts and other interesting projects that are taking on increasingly clear contours during the meetings of the theatre heads.   The memorandum was signed by the General Manager of the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre Ms. Laima Vilimiene, the Chairman of the Board of the Latvian National Opera and Ballet (LNOB) Sandis Voldins the General Manager of the Estonian National Opera (Rahvusooper Estonia / Estonian National Opera) Ott Maaten.

Now, after the emotions have cooled down, we can finally review the events of last week. The Vilnius Book Fair (largest fair of this type in the Baltic States) annually attracts not only readers, but also those who are looking for stories and experiences at the theatre.   The buzz within the two LNOBT displays did not subside throughout the four days of the fair. And here are the results: all theater events were discussed with both loyal and new audience members, the news about the upcoming season's repertoire was spread, and a record number of tickets was sold.   We also had the opportunity to unbox and present a new vinyl record for the first time – it features Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 5 performed live by the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre’s Symphony Orchestra and its chief conductor Ričardas Šumila. The special musical event was immortalized by world-renowned sound directors Aleksandra Kerienė and Vilius Keras.

An important step in preparing for the new season is the financial support for its opening premiere in the fall by the Vilnius Club (VILNIAUS KLUBAS), which fosters the ideas of patronage. The club members warmly and enthusiastically accepted the opportunity to contribute to the implementation of a special production at the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre. The production will be of Amilcare Ponchielli's opera "I Lituani", which has come a long and impressive way to our stage: we still remember the 2009 production at Trakai Castle as well as the concert performances held in the courtyard of the Palace of the Grand Dukes in 2020–2023. "Very few nations in the world could boast about having their heroic history reflected in the repertoire of classical opera. Lithuanians are one of those lucky ones," - says Prof. Alina Puriene, Chairwoman of the Vilnius Club Council. Laima Vilimiene, the general manager of the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, who signed the agreement with the Vilnius Club, is pleased that the support received will help bring the Italian composer's opera, which has been making Lithuania famous for a century and a half, to the theatre stage in the fall. The production is being created by Argentinian director and set designer Hugo De Ana.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰? In order to better understand the expectations of theatregoers and assess the work done, last year, as every year, the LNOBT conducted a survey of consumer satisfaction with the services of cultural institutions. Almost half a thousand theatre visitors participated in the survey. “The survey revealed that the majority of LNOBT audiences highly appreciate the theatre’s repertoire and productions. As many as 95% of respondents answered that they are satisfied with their quality, 96% of those surveyed, i.e. slightly more than last year, claim that they are satisfied with all services provided by the theatre, including the environment, helpfulness of the staff, etc. These are very encouraging, but at the same time strongly binding results," – shares LNOBT's general manager Laima Vilimiene. Another important reflection of public life is the affordability of tickets. Their prices, according to the answers of the majority of respondents who participated in the survey, were evaluated favourably last year. Here too, a growth of several percentage points is noticeable. Although visitor activity is not decreasing and the trends in reviews are extremely favourable for the theatre, such results oblige us not to rest on our laurels: “It is a daily job – to try to maintain a high level of activity and not stop delighting the audience with valuable productions,” – says L. Vilimienė.

The fast pace of life in the theatre does not prevent us from dedicating time to meaningful collaborations. Recently, two of LNOBT‘s artists became the heroines of the program “Socialinis receptas” (eng. “Social Recipe”) and brightened up the everyday life of the event participants. This program is intended for lonely seniors who are looking for ideas on how to spend their free time meaningfully and find like-minded people. After all, communication and interesting activities are the most pleasant path towards health and good mood.   At the National Art Gallery, opera soloist Regina Šilinskaitė and ballet soloist Greta Gylytė shared moments from their lives, spoke about the beginning of their careers and their most memorable roles, examined the differences and similarities in the artists’ daily routines, rituals on the day of the performance, and recommendations for a more pleasant everyday life. Vilniaus visuomenės sveikatos biuras „Vilnius sveikiau”

Attention ballet dancers! LNOBT's Ballet Company and its Artistic Director Jurgita Dronina are announcing an audition for the positions of corps de ballet, soloists and principal dancers – we invite women and men with strong classical and contemporary technique from 18 to 25 years old, to participate. The audition will take place on 10 March 2025 in Vilnius. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/dp3j_Cva #ballet #dancer #audition #theatre #LNOBT

We're hiring! #communications #publicrelations #joboffer #hiring #LNOBT

Special guests can often be found in the backstage of our theatre: world-renowned professionals visit us to get to know the ballet company, share their knowledge and see what the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre is all about today. This time they witnessed the last performances of ballerina Jurgita Dronina and congratulated her on the exciting new professional path as the Artistic Director of Ballet. We are grateful to Charlotte Chapellier from the Paris National Opera (Opera National de Paris), Cédric Ygnace and Jean Christophe Lesage from the Vienna State Ballet (Wiener Staatsballett), who met with the dancers of our ballet company and provided them with truly valuable masterclasses. #ballet #theatre #LNOBT