“The Four Seasons”

On October 11, we invite you to Paliesius Manor to hear “The Four Seasons”—A. Vivaldi’s immortal cycle of four concertos: “Spring,” “Summer,” “Autumn,” and “Winter.” The works will be performed, and their secrets revealed, by two talented musicians: violinist Gediminas Dalinkevičius and pianist Povilas Jaraminas.

Antonio Vivaldi is one of the most prominent composers of Baroque music, born in 1678 in Venice, and renowned as a virtuoso violinist. Vivaldi composed around 770 works, the most famous of which is the concerto cycle “The Four Seasons.” In this cycle, the composer sought to recreate the sounds of nature and people, as if painting a scene—it is a true painting in sound, revealing through music the tenderness of spring, the heat of summer, the bounty of autumn, and the cold of winter. It is a musical masterpiece one simply cannot tire of.

Violinist Gediminas Dalinkevičius graduated from the Juozas Gruodis Music Technical College in Kaunas in 1962, and from the Lithuanian State Conservatory in 1968. In 1972, he became the director of the Composers’ House, and in 1975, the head of department and deputy director of the Lithuanian National Philharmonic. From 1988, he was the founder, artistic director, and conductor of the Kaunas Chamber Orchestra. From 1992, he served as the conductor and soloist for the international orchestra Solisti Baltia.

He is a longtime friend of Paliesius Manor. Alongside Povilas Jaraminas and other musicians, G. Dalinkevičius was among the first to record chamber music CDs in the Paliesius Manor studio. Most importantly, together with his fellow musicians, he performed numerous concerts organized by the founders of Paliesius Manor for schoolchildren from the Ignalina, Švenčionėliai, Švenčionys, Visaginas, and Utena districts. Over 6,000 students visited the newly built, then-unheated Pasaga concert hall at Paliesius Manor to listen to classical music. Following these concerts, word began to spread that this was a magnificent chamber hall. G. Dalinkevičius recalls no other event like it in Lithuania, calling it a true epic—which remains one of the reasons drawing the musician back to Paliesius Manor.

Pianist Povilas Jaraminas is a superb improviser and interpreter of jazz. He was one of the first pioneers of jazz in Lithuania. The performer graduated from the M. K. Čiurlionis School of Arts in 1967, and from the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre in 1972 (Prof. O. Šteinbergaitė’s piano class). The pianist has shared the stage with distinguished vocalists such as Irena Milkevičiūtė, Gegham Grigoryan, Eduardas Kaniava, Vytautas Juozapaitis, Judita Leitaitė, and others. From 1980, he served as accompanist to Virgilijus Noreika. He balances his concert activities with his work at the M. K. Čiurlionis School of Arts, where he is an expert concertmaster. He has been awarded the Medal of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas. The pianist studied alongside violinist G. Dalinkevičius, and the two are old friends.