LNOBT has already established the tradition of commemorating 13 January, Freedom Defenders Day, by inviting listeners to artistically valuable experiences. Many famous “Requiem” and other works suitable for the occasion were performed at the theatre that evening.
In 2020, on the evening of 12 January, LNOBT will be presenting “Poor Little Man Job” by the National Prize Winner Vidmantas Bartulis. The Oratorio for Symphony Orchestra, Choir and Soloists based on the Old Testament Job Book was commissioned by the Vilnius Festival in 2003 and won the prize of the Lithuanian Composers' Union for the best orchestral work as well as the title of the Composer of the Year for V. Bartulis.
According to the composer, the idea of writing an oratorio based on a well-known Biblical narrative has matured in nearly a decade. "I wanted to treat the Old Testament story of Job in a different way, to show him as the hostage of two forces, the highest and the lowest," Bartulis says. "From this slightly different point of view, the title of the work emerged, as if to convey to the listener that Job's book of Scripture is not spoken consistently." The rich music transforms Biblical universals into everyone's personal experience.
