Historic Vilnius Garden Launches Open-Air Concerts, Pianist Delights Audience

Vilnius's historic Carmelite Garden, which opened its doors to visitors a year ago, is ushering in a new cultural chapter with its first-ever open-air chamber music concerts this summer. The intimate space in the old town is already drawing audiences, with all tickets sold out for Petras Geniušas's recital.

Geniušas expressed his excitement about performing in the garden. Before playing Joseph Haydn's Sonata in G minor, a piece he has loved since his youth, he noted his return to the sonata after a two-decade hiatus. The program also included Carl Vine's Sonata No. 1, now considered a modern piano classic, and Geniušas's own improvisational fantasy "Night at the Opera," inspired by his passions for opera and jazz.

Attendees described the evening as a rare urban summer joy, where the piano music merged with the ambient sounds of Aušros Vartų Street, voices, birds, and the garden's life. Among the guests enjoying this unique experience were director and producer Linas Ryškus and actress Edita Užaitė.

The next concert in the "Summer Moods" series will feature violinist Martynas Švėgžda von Bekker on July 9, offering an intimate, meditative journey from baroque to contemporary music.