Mirga: My father ran at a Russian tank with a kitchen knife

Mirga: My father ran at a Russian tank with a kitchen knife

Orchestras

norman lebrecht

December 27, 2024

In tonight’s Lebrecht Interview, the conductor Mirga Grazinte-Tyla remembers the night the Russians tried to reimpose their rule on her native Lithuania. Mirga ran barefoot into the night behind her father, who was determined to drive the Russians out.

The memory was awoken by a question of mine, asking why she felt it necessary to declare her own independence, quitting a conventional role as music director in order to devote her mid-30s to bringing up children.

Mirga is a one off, altogether her own creation.

Listen tonight at 21.15 on BBC  Radio 3, later on BBC  iPlayer.

 

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