9^th Contemporary Opera Festival NOA

19/10/2025, Sunday, 18.00

20/10/2025, Monday, 18.00

Hall of the Sapieha Palace (L. Sapiegos St. 13, Vilnius)

In the Forest

Oratorio

Premiere

In the Forest is a glance at the history of Lithuania over the last century from the perspective of the archetypal forest covering a large part of the country’s territory. Willingly, and sometimes perhaps superficially, romanticized, the forest is extremely multifaceted from both ecological and historical point of view. Therefore, its image in historical (sub)consciousness conceals a series of visions, three of which served as the starting points for this work. Firstly, there is symphonic poem In the Forest by M. K. Čiurlionis, which embedded the Dzūkija forest fantasy in our imagination. Meanwhile, the forest in post-war Dzūkija where thousands of resistance fighters died presents a completely different image. And finally, there is the forest of the present day, the survival and biodiversity of which pose a concern not only for ecologists, but also for public organizations and communities. What does this transformation of the identity of the Lithuanian forest from a “nature’s home” to a register of (un)protected areas testify?

In the Forest is an oratorio for eight voices and spatial electronics, dedicated to the 150th birth anniversary of M. K. Čiurlionis.

Composer: Albertas Navickas

Texts by Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, Salomėja Nėris, Lithuanian partisans, Jonas Mekas, Albertas Navickas

The work also features interviews with Irena Šapokaitė and Lolita Jolanta Piličiauskaitė

Spatial electronics by Edvinas Siliūnas

Sound engineer: Edvinas Siliūnas

Producer: Operomanija

Performers: Indrė Anankaitė-Kalašnikovienė, Ieva Marmienė (sopranos), Nora Petročenko (mezzo-soprano), Vaidas Bartušas (countertenor), Vygantas Bemovas (tenor), Paulius Klangauskas (tenor), Artūras Miknaitis (baritone), Alfredas Miniotas (bass), Gediminas Žilys (voice on audio recording)

Composer Albertas Navickas:

In the Forest chronologically moves through several historical moments, the images of which were evoked in me by the “forest” concept. These moments are both universal and very personal. Among them are the works of M. K. Čiurlionis, a kind of a riddle in early 20th-century Lithuania, way ahead of their time; also, my grandmother’s stories about her family’s fate in the forests of Varėna after the war and later in Siberia; and the efforts of the Pauliškiai village community to preserve a forest that was deemed “unworthy of protection”. While I was reading Čiurlionis’ letters to his wife Sofija, post-war partisan poems (including Salomėja Nėris’ verses, which were regarded as “folklore”), research by Lithuanian historians on women’s participation in the resistance, Jonas Mekas’ chronicles about the beginning of his emigration, and recording the memories of my family members, I realised that I am bearing witness to the history of Lithuanian identity. In the Forest is, without a doubt, my most Lithuanian work.

Creator of spatial electronics Edvinas Siliūnas:

My objective is spatial transformation: by manipulating spatial electronics and live vocals, using them as a dramatic or even psychedelic tool, I aim to bring listeners closer to a ritualistic, immersive experience.

Duration: 60 minutes

In Lithuanian with English surtitles

The event will be filmed and photographed. The material will be distributed publicly.