A Lithuanian tenor is banned for singing in Belarus

The international Lithuanian opera singer Vaidas Vyšniauskas, also known as Kristian Benedikt, has enraged the authorities in his own country by giving a pre-Christmas concert at the National Opera and Ballet Theatre of Belarus.

Lithuania has endorsed an EU-wide boycott of Belarus, which is Russia’s ally in the invasion of Ukraine.

Vyšniauskas, 51, says he gave the concert at the invitation of a bishop in order to support pastors who are suffering repression under the Lukashenko regime. ‘I attended prayers and I mainly interacted with church members,’ he said.

But Lithuania’s Culture Minister Simonas Kairys said ‘such choices are incomprehensible to my common sense.’

And Jonas Sakalauskas, general director of Lithuania Opera and Ballet Theatre said: ‘So long as I am director, Vysniauskas will not sing here…This act is a betrayal of Lithuania.’