This Ondine debut album by the award-winning Lithuanian mezzo-soprano Justina Gringytė, one of the foremost rising stars of the opera world, and pianist Malcolm Martineau is her first solo album and the complete recording of Georges Bizet’s (1838–1875) long-forgotten masterpiece, Vingt Mélodies (20 Songs), op.21. Year 2025 marks the 150th anniversary of the death of Bizet, one of the greatest French composers of all time.

During his short career of little more than twenty years Bizet composed a substantial quantity of music, including 15 operas. Bizet has been compared with Mozart in his sensitivity to the human voice and understanding of its expressive potential. Several of Bizet’s operas predate his Twenty Songs, op.21, written between 1854 and 1872. Anyone new to these songs, a collection including many masterpieces, may wonder how music of such consistent quality could be so neglected! Clearly, they must be ranked among Bizet’s most representative works.

Award-winning Lithuanian mezzo-soprano Justina Gringytė has received high praise for her “knockout technique” (The Times) and “thunderously powerful voice” (Daily Telegraph). Awarded Young Singer of the Year at the International Opera Awards, and a graduate of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Ballet and Opera, Covent Garden – where among other things she performed at the Olympic Committee’s Opening Ceremony for the London Olympic Games alongside Renée Fleming, Bryn Terfel and Plácido Domingo, and at a special concert to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee for Queen Elizabeth II – Justina is considered one of the foremost rising stars of the opera world. An acclaimed Carmen, her hugely-praised performance with English National Opera was screened live into cinemas. She has performed at many of the world’s leading opera companies, including Opéra national de Paris, Teatro Real Madrid, Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, Royal Ballet and Opera Covent Garden, English National Opera, Scottish Opera, Welsh National Opera, Teatro Massimo Palermo, Bolshoi Opera, Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre, Korean National Opera, Lithuanian National Opera, Vilnius City Opera, Israeli Opera and Latvian National Opera. Equally in demand on the concert platform, she has collaborated with major orchestras such as the London Philharmonic, Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, Orchestra della Svizzeria Italiana, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, Strasbourg Philharmonic, Simón Bolívar Orchestra, Basque National Orchestra, Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, Lithuanian National Philharmonic – and has given song recitals in celebrated venues such as Wigmore Hall. She has collaborated with conductors including Antonio Pappano, Gustavo Dudamel, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Tugan Sokhiev, Mirga Gražinyte-Tyla, Ludovic Morlot, Susanna Malkki, Evelino Pidò, Kazushi Ono, Robert Treviño, Daniele Rustioni, Carlo Rizzi, Xian Zhang, Sesto Quatrini, Andrea Battistoni, Giacomo Sagripanti, and Edward Gardner.

Recognised at the highest international level as one of the UK’s leading accompanists, Malcolm Martineau has performed worldwide alongside the world’s greatest singers including Sir Thomas Allen, Dame Janet Baker, Florian Boesch, Elina Garanca, Dame Sarah Connolly, Angela Gheorghiu, Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson, Sir Simon Keenlyside, Angelika Kirchschlager, Dame Felicity Lott, Anne Sofie von Otter, Günther Groissböck and Sonya Yoncheva. He has appeared at the world’s principal venues including Alice Tully Hall, Barbican Centre, Berlin State Opera, Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw, Gran Theatre del Liceu, Mariinsky Theatre, Metropolitan Opera, Munich Opera, Paris Opera and Salle Gaveau, Royal Opera House, La Scala, Sydney Opera House, Teatro Real, Salzburg Mozarteum, Suntory Hall Tokyo, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, Musikverein and State Opera, Walt Disney Hall, Wigmore Hall, and Zurich Opera amongst others. Malcolm has also appeared at the Aix-en-Provence, Vienna, and Salzburg Festivals. He has presented his own series at the Wigmore Hall and at the Edinburgh Festival. Malcolm is a Professor of piano accompaniment at the Royal Academy of Music and an Honorary Doctor and International Fellow of Accompaniment at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He was made an OBE in the 2016 New Year’s Honours for his services to music and young singers.