Messiaen Quartet & Laitman Seed of Dream Vilna Concert Celebrates Endurance and Hope

"Lori Laitman has a great gift for song-writing and these songs skillfully employ a variety of styles to convey the pathos of the Holocaust."

American Record Guide, 2008

"This cycle is indeed a masterpiece that should not be missed!"

Journal of Singing, 2008

For Immediate Release

January 25, 2009

Messiaen/Laitman Vilnius Concert Celebrates Endurance and Hope

Olivier Messiaen’Äôs ’ÄòQuartet for the End of Time’Äô and American composer Lori Laitman’Äôs song cycle ’ÄòThe Seed of Dream’Äô will be performed at St. Katherine Church in Vilna, Lithuania on January 27, 2009 at 7pm.

Laitman's song cycle for baritone, cello and piano is based on five poems penned in Nazi-occupied Lithuania by the pre-eminent Yiddish poet Abraham Sutzkever. Sutzkever's poetry, written in the Vilna Ghetto during the war, stands witness to the transcendent power of art in the face of unimaginable cruelty and brutality. The cycle was commissioned by Music of Remembrance and saw its world premiere in Seattle, Washington in 2005 to glowing reviews. It was performed for the first time in Europe at The Tolerance Center of the Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum in Vilna, Lithuania in 2007 by Norwegian baritone Stein Skjervold, who reprises the role in this production. It has also generated excitement and interest among some of the world's most prestigious vocalists, and continues to receive performances the world over.

Of the cycle, The Journal of Singing writes: "The American song composer, Lori Laitman, has been lauded by reviewers as one of the most extraordinary song composers working today, likening her to Ned Rorem. She has an innate ability to capture the essence of textual meaning, a keen perception of vocal nuance, and a lavish intellectual and musical vocabulary that she uses with a facile ease. It was with all of these extraordinary skills that she created a magnificent song cycle called ’ÄòThe Seed of Dream’Äô.’Äù

In 2008 the cycle was released on Naxos, along with works by Jake Heggie and Gerard Schwarz.

Program Details:

January 27, 2009 at 19:00, St. Katherine Church, Vilna, Lithuania

Olivier Messiaen: "Quartet for the End of Time": Mia Cooper (UK), violin / Roger Arve Vigulf (Norway), clarinet / Tom Collingwood (UK), cello / Sonata Zuboviene (Lithuania), cello

Lori Laitman: "The Seed of Dream": Stein Skjervold (Norway), baritone / Tom Collingwood (UK), cello / Sonata Zuboviene (Lithuania), piano

Source:

Jona Rapoport Artist Management/Publicity

jona@jonarapoport.com