Nijolė Ambrazaitytė sings Aldona‘s aria from 'I Lituani' by Ponchielli

Nijolė Ambrazaitytė (1939-2016) was a Lithuanian opera singer (mezzosoprano) and a politician (she was a member of the Lithuanian parliament in 1990-2000). Her life began with tragical events in 1948 when she, still being a child, with the whole family of her grandparents was deported by the Soviets to the Siberian camps. After eight long years, she returned to Lithuania where, in 1966, she graduated from the Lithuanian State Conservatoire. The same year Ambrazaitytė began singing in the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre where she prepared about nearly twenty mezzosoprano roles. Ambrazaitytė sang in about 300 solo concerts where she performed works by Mozart, Verdi, Dvořák, Bach and others. She appeared on opera stages and with solo concerts in the USA, Canada, South America, Great Britain, Australia, Norway, Finland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Mongolia, and the former Soviet Union. She released about 30 recordings, a cassette "Rare Lithuanian folk songs" among them.

Ambrazaitytė was honoured with actually all possible artistic awards, as well as the Order of Grand Duke Gediminas for her merits to the Lithuanian culture.

The second opera of Amilcare Ponchielli ‘I Lituani‘ (The Lithuanians) of 1874 was well received. Later, in 1884, it was produced in Saint Petersburg as ‘Aldona‘. The opera follows a narative poem ‘Konrad Walenrod‘ (1828) by a Lithuanian-Polish author Adam Mickiewicz. The action of the novel takes place in the 14th century in Marienburg (Malbork), headquarters of the Teutonic Knights, and also in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (the homeland of the title character Aldona).