V International Joseph Achron Music Festival | Return

Christian ALTENBURGER (violin, Austria)
Dalia DĖDINSKAITĖ (violin)
Dovilė Juozapaitienė (viola)
Gleb PYŠNIAK (cello)
Josef Gilgenreiner (double bass, Switzerland)

The 5th International Joseph Achron Music Festival marks a symbolic return to its origins. Artists who participated in the first festival and contributed to its artistic beginning return for this anniversary program — the legendary Austrian violinist Christian Altenburger, who played in the opening concert of the festival, and double bassist Josef Gilgenreiner, whose musical partnership also accompanied the festival’s first steps.

A special highlight of tonight’s program is Karl Goldmark’s String Quintet in A minor, Op. 9, which will be performed in Lithuania for the first time. A Hungarian composer of Jewish origin who spent most of his creative life in Vienna, Goldmark was one of the prominent figures of mid-19th century Central European musical life. His early String Quintet opens up a rarely heard romantic repertoire, blending Viennese musical tradition with the Central European cultural context.

The program will also feature Krzysztof Penderecki’s “Duo Concertante” for violin and double bass — a piece with an unexpected instrumentation where two extreme voices of the string family meet. It will be performed by Christian Altenburger and Josef Gilgenreiner — musicians who have already presented this duo on various European stages many times. Pēteris Vasks’ String Quartet No. 3 in this concert is dedicated to celebrating the composer’s 80th anniversary. Joseph Achron’s “Hebrew Lullaby” for quintet, which will open the evening, will serve as a symbolic token of the concert dedicated to the festival’s namesake.

Christian Altenburger (violin, Austria), Dalia Dėdinskaitė (violin), Dovilė Juozapaitienė (viola), Gleb Pyšniak (cello), and Josef Gilgenreiner (double bass, Switzerland) — internationally acclaimed chamber music performers — will take the stage. This is an evening about returning — to the festival’s beginnings, to musical friendships, and to a live chamber music dialogue.