Love. Heroism. Eternity.

December is a special time, when the festive bustle at the end of the year invites us to pause, look back on the path we have travelled, and immerse ourselves in a world of powerful emotions. At this special moment in the year, the Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra invites you to a special concert featuring monumental, passionate music by Ludwig van Beethoven and Richard Wagner that gives expression to eternal human values.

The concert will open with Beethoven’s overture “Leonora”—a dramatic and grand musical journey from darkness to light, from despair to liberation. This is music about the strength of the human spirit, fidelity and triumph, filled with tension, heroic momentum and unbreakable hope.

Richard Wagner’s Prelude and Isolde’s Death Scene (“Liebestod”) from “Tristan and Isolde” will open up an entirely different, mysterious and intoxicating emotional realm. One of the greatest masterpieces of Romantic music tells of a love that transcends all boundaries and becomes a promise of eternity. In Wagner’s music of unearthly beauty, longing, passion, pain and fulfilment come together, with the impressive solo part performed by one of the most outstanding dramatic mezzo-sopranos of her generation, Eglė Wyss. The internationally acclaimed singer has earned recognition for her intense and dramatic interpretations, and Wagner, Verdi, Strauss and other great opera composers hold an important place in her repertoire. Eglė Wyss has performed at prestigious theatres across Europe and the world, and the rich colour and emotional power of her voice are ideally suited to the scores of the great Romantic repertoire.

The concert will culminate in one of the most significant scores in the history of music: Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, “Eroica.” A work that once fundamentally changed the very concept of the symphony, it continues to astonish with its scale, power and extraordinary spiritual energy. This is music about human greatness, struggle, loss and triumph—about heroism born not of invincible power, but of the ability to persevere.

The musical journey of this exceptional evening will be led alongside the Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra by guest conductor Jonathan Berman from the United Kingdom, an internationally acclaimed artist. A conductor with a wide-ranging repertoire and distinctive musical insight, he has worked with ensembles including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra and other renowned orchestras around the world. Interpretations of Classical and Romantic repertoire, including Beethoven’s music, hold a special place in his work.

Love that transcends the boundaries of life. Heroism that overcomes fate. Music beyond the reach of time.