It all began with Bach in 1960 – a quartet from overseas was performing the Art of Fugue at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Hall in Vilnius. The problem was that they played it very boringly. A young violinist and conductor Saulius Sondeckis, disappointed, slipped out of the concert quietly hoping to be unnoticed. And who should he meet if not the Director of the Philharmonic, Balys Fedaravičius. “You don’t like the way they play? Create your own orchestra then, and we will support!” On 23 April 1960 around twenty young enthusiastic musicians got together for a rehearsal at the Lithuanian State Conservatory (now LMTA) in Vilnius. The rehearsal was conducted by Saulius Sondeckis, and this date is now an official birthday of the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra. Just six months later, on 30 October 1960, the LCO gave their first public performance which included pieces by Handel and J.S.Bach.
In May 1960 Isaac Stern was giving recitals in Vilnius. Balys Fedaravičius, decided to show off to Isaac Stern a brand new, exciting, just formed Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra. A mere couple of weeks after the first rehearsal, the orchestra was working on some Bach in a Small Hall of the Philharmonie. Then suddenly the door opened and Isaac Stern walked in. He listened to the young orchestra with great interest, warmth and encouragement, gave them some valuable advice about the interpretation. According to the musicians, this friendly visit of a great violinist felt like a real endorsement, a glimpse of the future collaborations with great musicians.
The Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra quickly gained the devoted following and reputation. The gave the first concert in Moscow in 1962 performing the Second Piano Concerto by Balys Dvarionas. This completely sold out performance was followed by extensive touring throughout the USSR , countries of the Soviet block and later the West. The Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra performs regularly at t music festivals in Salzburg, Lucerne, Schleswig-Holstein, Stradivari Festival in Cremona, Sion, Gstaad, Rheingau, and Musikfest Berlin to name just a few.
The Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra inspired and premiered numerous pieces by many composers of the XX century. They are passionate ambassadors of the music by Baltic composers
In 1991 the world was paying tribute to 220 years from Mozart’s death. The Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra took part in both Summer Salzburg Festival and the Autumn concert series. They performed Alfred Schnittke’s “Sutartinės”, written during the dark days of tragic events in Vilnius in January 1991
During Ivo Pogorelich’s Festival in 1991 the tri-colour flag of Independent Lithuania was officially displayed outside Lithuania for the first time.
Profound understanding and interpretation of music by Bach is one of the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra’s pièce de résistance. Together with legendary Tatiana Petrovna Nikolayeva the LCO several time has performed all 12 keyboard concertos by Bach throughout the USSR, Germany (Ansbach and Schleswig-Holstein festivals) and recorded the cycle for Melodija, Eterna, Ariola Eurodisc and JVC labels.
Maestro Mstislav Rostropovich played a very special part in LCO history
Between 1992 and 1999 Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra have performed around 60 concerts with Lord Menuhin, who used to call them “my Lithuanians”.
In 2000/01 the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra toured Germany performing Beethoven’sThe Creatures of Prometheus great British actor Sir Peter Ustinov, who narrated his own philosophical essays about the myth of Prometheus, Napoleon and modern day history. This programme became a best selling CD on BMG Records and RCA Victor Red Seal labels
Since 2008 Sergej Krylov is Music Director and Conductor of the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra