Baroka Gobelēni

Two renowned Lithuanian performers – the remarkable pianist Victor Paukstelis and the winner of the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Art, world-famous drummer and jazz virtuoso Vladimir Tarasov – will once again meet on stage. They will present a new programme combining baroque music and contemporary improvisation.

The artists, both renowned for their talents in the visual arts and for their constant pursuit of an enriching connection between disciplines, this time will look for a common denominator between two styles of music centuries apart. Paukstelis will play the baroque “fabric”, while Tarasov will weave improvisational elements into it.

It is no secret that Baroque music is close to contemporary improvisation in some respects: it is also often based on the bass line, the melodic line of the piece is developed with embellishments and melismas, and the quality and originality of the performance depends on the mastery of the performer. In other words, the Baroque composer gave much more freedom to the performer than, for example, in the Classical and Romantic periods, when the performer was more “tied” to the notes, tempo, and dynamic indications. Baroque and 21st-century improvisational jazz are thus similar in nature and that is why they are interesting to Tarasov and Paukstelis as elements of a musical combination.

Vladimir Tarasov is a world-famous drummer, resourceful percussionist, composer, and visual artist. He feels equally at home with many musical styles but his true affection lies with free jazz and improvised music. His masterly strokes make percussion instruments sound like an orchestra, let alone some unconventional objects, from which he elicits the most unexpected sonorities. Together with the members of the GTCh Trio, he laid the foundations of the Lithuanian jazz school and partnered with many of the world's improvised music celebrities. He was one of the first in Europe to present solo programs for drums and percussion. He is regarded as a conceptual artist whose ideas find their way into various media: he composes for theatre and film, creates visual art and intermedia works, presents performances and installations, and collaborates with various artists, including writers, painters, and dancers.

Victor Paukstelis is often described as an artist of a unique nature, as he brings to the public a fusion of his two talents: painting and piano playing. Music and art are two intertwined and complementary components for this artist: the unpolished impulsiveness of his paintings adds experimental boldness on stage. At the same time, the visual work of colour in creating form becomes an aural experience that translates to the piano. This synthesis of the two arts has no parallel on the classical stage.

After a highly successful performance at Carnegie Hall in New York, The New York Concert Review called Paukstelis’ sense of rhythm “impeccable ”, and his music-making “honest and solid”. In addition to the well-known classics, his programme includes lesser-known works by Jean-Philippe Rameau, Domenico Scarlatti, Anatoly Lyadov, Alexander Scriabin, and César Franck, as well as works by his brother, composer Vytautas Paukstelis. Viktoras Paukstelis currently performs in Lithuania, the USA, France, Germany, and Scandinavia, and participates in Lithuanian and international festivals.