Modestas Pitrenas News Today

Moviegoers back in 2015 who saw the film The Danish Girl may have first heard the story there of Lili Elbe, the first known recipient of gender-affirming surgery in the early 1930s, then uncharted, experimental medical territory.

Moviegoers back in 2015 who saw the film The Danish Girl may have first heard the story there of Lili Elbe, the first known recipient of gender-affirming surgery in the early 1930s, then uncharted, experimental medical territory.

Opera has played with ideas of gender since its earliest days. Now the first openly trans performers are taking to the stage, and operas explicitly exploring trans identities are beginning to emerge.

The monastery courtyard of the UNESCO World Heritage Site with its magnificent Baroque cathedral becomes the backdrop for an opera drama.

Classical and late-romantic piano music, plus 20th century symphonies and a sprightly nonagenarian. Classical CDs reviews by Graham Rickson and Sebastian Scotney

WTJU Feb 9th, 2021 | By Ralph Graves Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis was a star that burned brightly, yet briefly. This Lithuanian composed almost 400 works, painted over 300 pictures and died at the age of 35. Ciurlionis is considered one of the pioneers of abstract art and possibly had synesthesia. He’s certainly a pioneer of Lithuanian music. This recording features Ciurlionis’ complete surviving symphonic works (many exist only in piano sketches or short scores). The Lithuanian N...