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The war in Ukraine has triggered utmost anxiety around the world. At the same time, it is creating an unprecedented wave of solidarity, especially in the Baltic States. Here, people feel a strong bond with the long-suffering Ukrainian population through their shared history and geographical proximity to Russia.
In Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, people recall the Peaceful Revolution of August 1989, when more than two million people sang and formed a 600-kilometer-long human chain through Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
The “Baltic Way” went down in the history books and set the stage for the fall of the Soviet Union – peacefully, with music.
As a result, Lithuania became the first of the three Baltic countries to declare independence on March 11, 1990, exactly 32 years ago today. By December 1991, all other former states of the Soviet Union followed suit, including Ukraine. It is such memories of the transition to freedom and democracy, as well as concerns about renewed annexation and oppression, that unite these people.
In the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, only a few streets away from the “Baltic Way”, musicians from Lithuania and Ukraine are gathering this evening. Once again with the power of music, they are committed to peace and their hard-won freedom. Together they are setting an example so that the dark chapters of European history will never be repeated.
LNOBT Simfoninis Orkestras
LNOBT Choras
Ričardas Šumila (LT), Musical direction
and Marharyta Hrynyvetska (UA)
Margarita Levchuk (BY), soprano
Yulia Tkachenko (UA), soprano
Olesia Shaytanova (UA/LT), prima ballerina
Jonas Sakalauskas (LT), baritone
Edgaras Montvidas (LT), tenor
Dainius Peseckas (LT), violin
Program:
Ukrainian National Anthem
Lithuanian National Anthem
Speech by Ingrida Šimonytė, Premier Minister of the Republic of Lithuania (tbc)
Žibuoklė Martinaitytė – Saudade
Balys Dvarionas – Ballad of Skudutis from the opera Dalia, performed by Edgaras Montvidas (Lithuania)
Mykola Lysenko – Natalka’s song from the opera Natalka Poltava, performed by Margarita Levchuk (Belarus)
Valentin Silvestrov – Symphony No. 8: Movements I, III, and VI
Speech by Petro Beshta, Ambassador of Ukraine to Lithuania
Yuri Shevchenko – We are!, Dance: Olesia Shaytanova (Lithuania), Violin: Dainius Peseckas (Lithuania)
Juozas Tallat-Kelpša/Rimantas Giedraitis – On the High Hill, folk song performed by Jonas Sakalauskas (Lithuania)
Myroslav Skoryk – Melodia, performed by Yulia Tkachenko (Ukraine)
Mykola Lysenko – Prayer for Ukraine
Ludwig van Beethoven – Ode to Joy
Recorded live at Lithuanian National Theatre of Opera and Ballet Vilnius
A production of Accentus Music
in coproduction with ZDF/Arte
Directed by Henning Kasten
Director of photography: Nyika Jancsó
Audio Producer: Georg Obermayer
Format: UHD HDR
Year: 2022
Picture Credit: Martynas-Aleksa (outside photo), LNOBT