Martynas Rimeikis

Lamb of God (Dievo Avinėlis) is an opera-ballet set in rural Lithuania in the aftermath of war. It depicts the atmosphere of unease, fear and uncertainty about the future as a village cobbler tries to stick to the straight and narrow path of honesty. Composed by Feliksas Bajoras in 1982, Lamb of God is based on an eponymous novel by Rimantas Šavelis. 11 March 1990, the Republic of Lithuania was re-established as an independent state, the first Soviet Republic to leave Moscow and leading other states to do so. With a subject that treats the resistance of people in post-war Lithuania, the piece had to wait nearly four decades for its premiere.

To mark the centennial of professional ballet in Lithuania, Léo Delibes’s masterpiece *Coppélia* is making a grand return to the stage of the National Opera and Ballet Theatre in Vilnius in a production directed by Martynas Rimeikis.