Virgilijus Kęstutis Noreika (; 22 September 1935 – 3 March 2018) was a Lithuanian

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

Early life and education

Noreika was born in

Šiauliai Šiauliai (; bat-smg, Šiaulē; german: Schaulen, ) is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 107,086. From 1994 to 2010 it was the capital of Šiauliai County. Names Šiauliai is referred to by various names in different la ...

and graduated with honors from the Lithuanian State Conservatory in 1958. A year earlier, while still a student, he was engaged as a performer at the

Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre (LNOBT) ( lt, Lietuvos nacionalinis operos ir baleto teatras) is an opera house and ballet theatre in Vilnius, Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt ...

Career

In 1959, Noreika sang the part of Alfredo Germont in

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

's '' La traviata'', one of Noreika's favorite and most frequently performed roles. Later in 1965, he continued his career at the La Scala in Milan. There he mastered six new roles, and also sang the part of Pinkerton from

Puccini Giacomo Puccini ( Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long ...

's '' Madama Butterfly''. Noreika's creative biography comprises more than 40 operatic roles: Cavaradossi from ''

Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1887 French-language drama ...

'' by Puccini, Faust from ''

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroa ...

'' by

Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

, Rudolfo from ''

La bohème ''La bohème'' (; ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '' quadri'', '' tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giusep ...

'' by Puccini, Otello from '' Otello'' by Verdi, to name a few. Noreika has performed in Moscow at the Bolshoi Theatre, in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

at the

Teatro Colón The Teatro Colón (Spanish: ''Columbus Theatre'') is the main opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the acousti ...

, in Paris at the

Opéra National de Paris The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...

, and many other famous opera houses. Noreika has sung in more than 30 foreign theaters, participated in more than 1000 performances, given approximately 600 solo concerts, recorded 20 phonographic records and CDs.

Recognition and legacy

In 1997, he celebrated his 40th anniversary as an operatic tenor, and received the Kipras Award from the Opera Fellow Society. Noreika, semi-retired, was a professor at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre and the

Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre The Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (''Eesti Muusika- ja Teatriakadeemia'') began as a mixed choir of the Estonia Society Musical Department (EMD) on the eve of World War I. The assembly of the Estonia Society created the Tallinn Higher Musi ...

. In 2011, Noreika was awarded the

Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts The Lithuanian National Prize ( lt, Nacionalinė kultūros ir meno premija), established in 1989, is an award granted for achievements in culture and the arts. It has been awarded annually in six categories since 2006 (between 1989 and 2006 there w ...

for "the highest vocal excellence and unfading talent". In 2015 he was awarded

Medal of Pushkin The Medal of Pushkin (russian: медаль Пушкина) is a state decoration of the Russian Federation awarded to its citizens and to foreigners for achievements in the arts and culture, education, humanities and literature. It is named in ...

in Russia. To honor his achievements, the first International Virgilijus Noreika Competition for Singers was organised in 2017. The competition will take place every four years around the birth date of Noreika.

References

External links

Virgilijus Kęstutis Noreika

Seimas The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas), or simply the Seimas (), is the unicameral parliament of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of government in Lithuania, enacting laws and amendme ...

of Lithuania. *

Early life and education

Career

Recognition and legacy

References

External links

See also