LITHUANIAN FASCINATION

MALCOLM MILLER attends a special piano recital

The music of the Lithuanian composer Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis (1875-1911) is little known by pianists let alone audiences, and it was thus a special treat to hear a selection performed by one of the few specialists, Lithuanian pianist Mûza Rubackyté, at London's Wigmore Hall on 18 April 2001, the anniversary of Lithuanian Independence. Ciurlionis was a Renaissance man in that he combined the careers of painter and composer, and became a symbol of Lithuanian culture at the cusp of the 20th century, the period of the first independent state. It was thus apt to feature his solo piano music, of which Miss Rubackyté has recorded two CDs (on the Marco Polo label) as the centrepiece of a recital to mark the eleventh anniversary of Independent Lithuania, given in the presence of the Lithuanian Ambassador. Miss Rubackyté, who won first prize in the Budapest Competition in 1981, has received much acclaim for her Liszt interpretations (she has recorded three CDs on the Lyrinx label). Currently resident in Paris, she has extended her specialisms in Ciurlionis and Liszt to include French music, which formed the first half of an imaginative 20th century programme performed with panache.

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