Music in Vilnius

Vilnius has a charming local music scene.  Based on the selection of vinyl in many stores, jazz seems to be doing quite well.  The Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre occupies a large block at the edge of the old city, and the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra has its home in the same area.  The music shops I found were small, but felt local and indie in a true, authentic style.

iMuzika Shop.  The best I saw for CD selection.  Featured an eclectic metal section, and a large shelf of discounted discs (mainly classical, rock, and electronic) where I landed some cool finds.  Many classical CD's on this shelf featured names and orchestras that I'd never heard of.  I quick Gemini search turned up some unusual info, fascinating if true.  1) some of these recordings were ultra-cheap budget recordings that were nonetheless the gateway into those works in the former communist Eastern Europe, when quality recordings were harder to come by.  2) listed names of orchestras and conductors were completely fake, a front for some sort of scrappy regional orchestra whose invented identities were meant to give them a veneer of legitimacy and fool people into buying the recordings.

Viniloteka, Aphex Twin was playing on the PA when I walked in, which immediately put me in a good mood.  Great electronic on vinyl selection, and of course jazz/

Thelonius Vilnius.  There is nothing like this shop, it's located in a medieval cellar, I had to duck my head to clamber down the stairs into a dungeon-like area, the walls are dusty and crumbly, but it contains an archive of old posters, stereo equipment, classical LP's, and all things jazz.  Strictly for the hardcore.  

MB Vinilomanija, a similar vibe to Viniloteka, and I personally found a trove of fabric and fabriclive CD in their original metal cases

Vilnius has a charming local music scene. Judging by the vinyl selections in many of its record shops, jazz seems to be doing particularly well. The Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre occupies a substantial block on the edge of the Old Town, while the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra has its home nearby. The record shops I visited were generally small, but had a genuinely local, independent character.  Shopping there feels authentic, without any smug attitudes or whiffs of casual lifestyle branding.   

iMuzika Shop

Of all the shops I visited, iMuzika had the best CD selection. There was an eclectic metal section, along with a large shelf of discounted discs, mainly classical, rock, and electronic, where I turned up some particularly interesting finds.

The classical discs on this shelf were especially intriguing. Many of the CDs featured conductors and orchestras I'd never heard of, which sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole. A quick Gemini search turned up some fascinating stories, assuming they're actually true.

Some of these ultra-cheap budget recordings served as a gateway into the classical repertoire for listeners in the former Eastern Bloc countries, where recordings by major orchestras were not always readily available. Other recordings were allegedly issued under completely fictitious names, with invented orchestras and conductors lending a veneer of legitimacy to performances by obscure regional ensembles.

Viniloteka

Aphex Twin was playing over the PA when I walked in, which immediately put me in a good mood. The store had an excellent selection of electronic music on vinyl, along with plenty of jazz. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, but it's always satisfying to see and feel great records.  That's especially true when you're travelling.  Seeing great records cross cultures and borders and decades really drives home the point for music as the great unifier of peoples.  

Thelonius Vilnius

There's nothing quite like this place. It is located in a medieval cellar, reached by a steep staircase that required me to duck my head as I clambered down into what felt like a dungeon. The walls are dusty and crumbling, but it contains a remarkable collection of old concert posters, vintage stereo equipment, classical LPs, and just about everything connected with jazz. Strictly for the hardcore, and all the better for it.

MB Vinilomanija

This shop had a similar feel to Viniloteka, with a strong selection of records and an unmistakably independent atmosphere. The CD selection was small, but it contained a trove of Fabric and FabricLive mix CDs, still housed in their original metal cases, and selling for cheap. I was not expecting to find such a collection of 15-20 year old mix CD's in a small record shop in Vilnius.

None of these shops are large or flashy, they're not "destination shopping" locations like the Rochester shops were.  But taken together, they paint a rosy picture of the city's musical culture.  If you happen to find yourself in Vilnius, it's a very clean and walkable city, and the music scene is well worth exploring.  

IPO 2026 concert #2

 My second concert in a series of seven for this season!  Featuring Bloch -- Schelomo with Mischa Maisky on cello, and Strauss -- Ein Heldenleben.

Maisky is a legend and knows the work backwards and forwards, but I remain baffled by Schelomo. It's sort of a tone poem about the life of Solomon, sort of an exploration of Jewish musical themes by Bloch, but to my ears it feels disjointed, and lacking an identity.  Maisky spoke afterward about his extraordinary life, escaping the Soviet Union some 54 years ago and starting over in a new country.  He studied with two of the greatest cellists of all time, with a two-year stint in a Soviet prison sandwiched between them. He has led a fascinating life.

Ein Heldenleben has to be near the top of most difficult pieces to conduct in the standard repertoire. It calls for a massive orchestral ensemble, about a third of the musicians have solos/featured elements.  It's a grandiose, egocentric work in six sections, with relatively few conventional climaxes, and it ends quietly, always the boogeyman of many a conductor.  Was Lahav Shani up to the task?

Mostly, yes. As we learned from the commentary before the performance, this is a favourite of the Israel Philharmonic, a work they performed frequently under Zubin Mehta. They're therefore a well-oiled machine when it comes to navigating its many challenges. The first two-thirds were sharply played, with Shani nailing the wild tempo changes and quirky accents, while the extended violin solo was beautifully performed.

But coming out of the battle scene, the performance seemed to lose its edge. Ein Heldenleben doesn't build toward a spectacular death scene, as one might expect from a tone poem about the life of a legendary hero. Instead, it builds toward the hero ... heading home to the countryside to chill out. The final crescendo following the ascending violin line should feel like a great sigh of relief, rather than some monumental, crash-and-burn climax. Shani seemed to lose his way in the final ten minutes, tentatively searching for an emphatic conclusion that simply never comes.

But make no mistake: with an orchestra of this size, Strauss's endlessly inventive orchestration, the multitude of instrumental solos, and all those moving parts, Ein Heldenleben performed live is an event. The sheer spectacle of hearing this music in the concert hall is something very special indeed.

IPO opening night gala concert

Josef Bardanashvili has a lot to live up to by naming his specially commissioned piece Concerto for Orchestra, inviting inevitable comparisons with the Bartók classic. The first movement is based on the idea of perpetual motion, a perfectly apt description of the music. Written for a huge orchestral ensemble, the piece is full of startling percussion accents, with something seemingly always crashing, banging, or buzzing. After a slower middle movement, the finale returns to the manic energy of the opening.

I've always had my issues with the Sibelius Violin Concerto, which often feels more like an extended technical exercise than a true concerto. It may well be the busiest violin concerto in the repertoire, with the soloist playing almost continuously from the first note to the last, barely allowing the orchestra a moment in the spotlight. Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider plays it beautifully, however.  He doesn't bring the fire and passion that is required to make the performance truly shine, but he did bring a calm serenity to the work that is both refreshing and technically on point, particularly in the first movement., He follows it with an emotional speech to the audience, leading into a brief solo encore. By this point, we're eighty minutes into the program and haven't even reached the intermission, with an entire Mahler symphony still to come!

I attended the 2021 season-opening concert with Lahav Shani conducting, which also featured a Mahler symphony at the end of the evening. Back then, he nearly ground the proceedings to a halt with his penchant for micromanaging the orchestra and his lugubrious tempos. But that was five years ago.

Shani is still something of a micromanager, and the first movement suffered a bit from his insistence on imposing a grand symphonic sweep on everything, forcing the music to rise and fall in carefully sculpted waves. But he gradually settled in, and what followed was an excellent performance.

On the surface, Mahler's Fourth is his "happiest" and least demanding symphony -- it's his shortest (other than the 1st), uses smaller forces, requires "just" one singer, and so on.  Some conductors might mistake its apparent simplicity for a lack of interpretive challenges.  But that approach leads to dull Mahler more often than not. Shani goes well beyond that, capturing the kooky energy that so many conductors struggle to bring out. Lesser interpreters focus on the symphony's prettiness while overlooking its weirdness, but Shani finds plenty of room for both.

The performance was a bit on the slow side at 57 minutes, but it never dragged. The phrasing was clean and transparent throughout, and the music burst to life at all the right moments, particularly at the climax of the Adagio. Shani managed to balance the symphony's delicate charm with its more eccentric qualities, without sacrificing the momentum or sense of purpose.

All in all, I came away impressed. Shani has come a long way with Mahler since I last heard him, and now I'm especially looking forward to seeing him conduct the Second Symphony in a couple of months!

Music in Rochester

The hollowing out of the city’s downtown is sad to see, everything is grey, dull and under construction, and the streets are scarily empty even on weekday mornings. 

But the music scene in Rochester appears to be alive and well. Jazz in particular seems to be thriving: I saw posters for shows all over the city, at venues ranging from theatres and clubs to restaurants and music stores. Rochester also hosts an annual jazz festival each summer, while the large university population helps sustain a healthy live music scene throughout the year. And then there’s the Eastman School of Music, which undoubtedly ensures a steady supply of first-rate musicians in the live music scene.  

I also visited two music stores, both among the best I've ever been to. Each has a massive inventory of new and used vinyl and CDs, knowledgeable staff who are passionate about their jobs, and a regular schedule of live music. Both are located on the outskirts of the city, tucked into strip malls in quiet neighbourhoods where space is abundant and there's ample freedom to make noise in the evenings.

Record Archive is a massive warehouse of music, books, toys/merch, and electronics, boasting a 50-year history in Rochester.  The vibe is not unlike California's Amoeba Music, a colourful emporium of all things music-related, the kind of anything goes and everything sells store that has survived every fad and trend imaginable.  The back room looks like a great place to catch a show too, featuring more of a laid-back cozy vibe compared to the visual overload of the main store.  Vinyl records line the side of the bar, several glistening chandeliers hang from the ceiling, and a dino skeleton stalks next to the stage.  Notable purchase: my first EVER Rush purchase, the 40-th anniversary edition of "Hemispheres".  The latest reunion tour has put me in the frame of mind to finally discover Rush deep cuts, no, I can't really explain it either.   

Bop Shop has a different atmosphere entirely.  Whereas Record Archive is like a massive community bake sale and thrift shop, Bop Shop feels more like a carefully curated personal collection put up for sale by a couple of old school music junkies.  Their jazz selection appears second to none, and they regularly host jazz shows right in the centre of the store, clearing away part of their crowded inventory to do so.  I found about a dozen hard-to-find classical CD's (Philip Glass opera sets?) and would probably drop a fortune there on a regular basis if I lived in Rochester.  The inventory displayed in the store is actually a fraction of what they sell through Discogs and Amazon.  Managing those sales appears to be a full time job for the staff -- in-store sales are their side gig.