Aušrinė Stundytė - Recital

Recital by Aušrinė Stundytė

Aušrinė Stundytė soprano
Andrej Hovrin piano

Semi staged recital

Erwartung, monodrama by Arnold Schönberg, libretto by Marie Pappenheim.
Lieder by Arnold Schönberg, Richard Strauss and Alban Berg.

‘Staggering’, ‘remarkable’, ‘incendiary’, Aušrinė Stundytė’s combined vocal and stage performance at the Grand Théâtre in 2023, as Katarina in Calixto Bieto’s Lady Macbeth of Mzensk, left a lasting impression. As had already been the case in Paris and indeed Salzburg with her Elektra. The incredible Lithuanian soprano is back this season with an out- of-the-ordinary recital programme built around Arnold Schönberg’s monodrama Erwartung (Expectation). A nameless woman waits for her lover in the forest, in the middle of the night, haunted by disturbing shadows from within and without, passing successively through a multitude of emotions ranging from jealous anguish to ultimate horror, until she descends into insanity. Composed in 1909 by a Schönberg already liberated from tonality but not yet locked into twelve- tone rigidity, Erwartung offers an instant immersion into the troubled psyche of its protagonist. Aušrinė Stundytė has chosen to present this intense, expressionist-tinged piece in a semi-staged version ideal for simultaneously deploying her powerful voice and extraordinary acting skills. She will frame this monodrama with lieder by Schönberg, and by contemporaries of his Second Viennese School. A unique evening not to be missed!