| News |
10.3.2010 Antoni Wit and Evelina Puzaitė to appear in a romantic spring concert at the National Philharmonic Hall
On March 13th, the orchestral music series offers a romantic programme, befitting the coming of the spring. The gestures of experienced Polish master of the baton, Antoni Wit, will guide the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra through the tempestuous scores of Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Schumann and Dvořák. Evelina Puzaitė, a young Lithuanian-born British pianist renowned for her charismatic and sensitive musicianship, will join the orchestra in the performance of Schumann’s Piano Concerto.
Born in Cracow and educated in Warsaw and Paris by Krzysztof Penderecki and Nadia Boulanger, having assisted Herbert von Karajan and polished his conducting skills with Seiji Ozawa, Antoni Wit embarked on his international career in 1971, after winning the 2nd prize in the International Herbert von Karajan Conducting Competition in Berlin. He received invitations to conduct many of the world’s major symphony orchestras and was appointed Managing and Artistic Director of Warsaw Philharmonic in January 2002. He has toured and conducted in nearly all the major musical centres in Europe, the USA, Canada, Mexico, Israel, Brazil, Argentina, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, China and on Taiwan, conducting such leading symphony orchestras as the Berliner Philharmoniker, Staatskapelle Dresden, Tonhalle Zurich, the Royal Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Orchestra dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, St. Petersburg Philharmonia, NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, Orquestra Sinfônica de Salvador, and others. He has made over 150 full records for such labels as EMI, CBS, Decca, NVC Arts, Pony Canyon, Camerata Tokyo, Polskie Nagrania, DUX and NAXOS. He is one of the few artists in the world whose CDs have been sold in more than three million copies. In recognition of his achievements, he has received numerous awards.
After his guest appearance with the Warsaw Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra at the Vilnius Festival 2007, the critics had this to say: “After listening to the guests’ performance, marked with the consummate mastery of the orchestral playing, one felt still further captivated by genuine inspiration and inner freedom with which they performed, kindled by the accurate gestures of the conductor” (7 meno dienos). This time the winner of the Diamond Baton Award will conduct the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra in the performance of Mendelssohn’s Ruy Blas Overture, Dvořák’s Seventh Symphony and Schumann‘s Piano Concerto that will also feature pianist Evelina Puzaitė.
“Evelina gave an absolutely superb performance of Schumann’s Piano Concerto, where her poetic and sensitive playing was perfectly complemented by more then sufficient power…but the real strength of her interpretation, and which made this such a fascinating reading, were inner melodies and rhythmic niceties, especially in the scintillating finale, which made this familiar work sound so fresh again,” wrote The Herald (Plymouth) reviewer Philip R. Buttall about her interpretation of Schumann Concerto in 2009.
Lithuanian-born pianist Evelina Puzaitė is quickly establishing a reputation worldwide as a performer of natural sensitivity and strong charisma. Having won numerous International Piano Competitions and a long term contract with Landor Records, she is a regular performer at such prestigious concert venues as the Wigmore Hall, Barbican, and the Southbank Centre.
Winner of The Abstract Securities Landor Competition in 2006, Puzaitė was awarded a long-term contract with Landor Records. Her debut CD Moments Musicaux was released in London to critical acclaim. Evelina’s forthcoming recording plans include a recital of Robert and Clara Schumann. In addition to her piano career, Puzaitė is an avid writer and composer. She has been recognised at the Grodno Composers’ Competition, where she was awarded the Second Prize, and her compositions for piano have been published several times in Lithuania. Her first book Tempo Primo – a collection of short stories and poetic insights – was published in November 2008.
Evelina Puzaitė’s exceptional musicality was early noticed at the Čiurlionis School of Arts, where she studied with the prominent teacher Jūratė Karosaitė. Under her guidance, Evelina has won numerous prizes, including the First Prize at the Rubinstein Piano Competition in Paris, First Prize at the Tel-Hai International Piano Competition in Israel and the Third Prize at the Čiurlionis International Competition in Lithuania. In 2001, Evelina Puzaitė was awarded the prestigious Baltic State Scholarship to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London with Professor Joan Havill. Evelina received a Masters Degree of Music in Music Performance with Distinction in 2006, and she currently holds an Artists Fellowship at the Guildhall School.
Back
