Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Juozas Domarkas - Čiurlionis: Complete Works for Orchestra (2011) CD-Rip

The Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra is one of that Baltic nation's two national orchestral ensembles, the other being the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra. The group has also made a substantial impact in the West through performances, many of them at summer festivals, and recordings.

The Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Nacionalinis Simfoninis Orkestras) was formed in 1940 by conductor and composer Balys Dvarionas and gave its first performance on December 26 of that year. The group survived World War II, giving concerts and performing in productions of the Vilnius Opera. In 1945, after Lithuania was liberated from German control, the orchestra came under the umbrella of the Radio Committee of the Lithuanian SSR, part of the national Soviet radio network. In 1958, the orchestra became part of a larger Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society, where it continues to reside organizationally today. Dvarionas departed as conductor and music director after a year but returned to both posts in 1958; he was succeeded by Juozas Domarkas (music director from 1964 to 2015) and Modestas Pitrenas (chief conductor since 2005 and music director since 2015). From 1961 to 1993, the orchestra was often conducted by Margarita Dvarionaite, one of the first female conductors in the former East Bloc. The Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra performs a wide range of music from Classical to contemporary but specializes in Lithuanian music; it has given the premieres of more than 100 Lithuanian works. The orchestra gives about 50 concerts annually at the Philharmonic Hall in Vilnius and also tours extensively, appearing at such major venues as the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Musikverein in Vienna, and Suntory Hall in Tokyo. It has made appearances at numerous festivals in eastern and western Europe, including the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Warsaw's Beethoven Easter, and Prague Spring.

The Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra has likewise made recordings in both eastern (for the Soviet/Russian national label Melodiya) and western Europe (Naxos, Marco Polo, and others). In 2020, the group recorded an album of works by composer Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis for the Ondine label, with Pitrenas conducting. ~ James Manheim