Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis; Romualdas Gražinis - Back to Nature (Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla; Onutė Gražinytė)

Information

Composer: Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis; Romualdas Gražinis

• Čiurlionis - Jūra, MKČ 102
• Čiurlionis - Miške, MKČ 101
• Gražinis - Sutartinė
• Čiurlionis - Lakštingala, MKČ 466
• Čiurlionis - Ruduo, MKČ 462
• Čiurlionis - Preliudas in F Major / A Minor, MKČ 437

Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra

Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France

Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, conductor

Onutė Gražinytė, piano

Date: 2025

Label: Deutsche Grammophon (DG)

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Marking the 150th anniversary of Lithuanian composer Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla’s new album Back to Nature offers a poetic union of music, nature, and mythology. Leading the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, she presents Čiurlionis’s symphonic poems Jūra (The Sea) and Miške (In the Forest). The recording also features piano pieces Ruduo (Autumn) and Lakštingala (The Nightingale) performed by her sister Onutė Gražinytė, and a new choral work by her father Romualdas Gražinis. The project unites family, tradition, and national heritage in a profound artistic tribute.

Mirga Gražinyte-Tyla (b. 1986), Lithuanian conductor, became Music Director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in 2016, following Rattle, Oramo, and Nelsons. She led acclaimed performances and tours, later serving as Principal Guest Conductor (2022/23) and from 2023 as Associate Artist. A frequent guest worldwide, she has conducted major orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Dresden, Concertgebouw, and Philadelphia Orchestra, and led productions at Salzburg, Bayerische Staatsoper, and Teatro Real. A Deutsche Grammophon artist since 2018, her award-winning recordings highlight Weinberg, Šerkšnytė, and British composers. A Vilnius native, she studied in Leipzig, Bologna, and Zurich after winning the 2012 Salzburg Young Conductors Award.

Onutė Gražinytė (b. 1996), Lithuanian pianist, began her studies at five at the National M. K. Čiurlionis School of Arts in Vilnius and later trained in Hanover and Berlin with Prof. Kirill Gerstein. She has performed widely in Lithuania and abroad with orchestras such as the Klaipėda Chamber, Kaunas Symphony, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, and Orchestre National de Lyon. Equally active in chamber music, she collaborates frequently with her sister, conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla. Her acclaimed debut CD Lamentate (2020) featured Arvo Pärt’s music, praised internationally and by Pärt himself for her musical maturity and sensitivity. Recent highlights include appearances with Sinfonieorchester Basel, CBSO, and Kremerata Baltica.