Page 299 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2021. Opereta med obema svetovnima vojnama ▪︎ Operetta between the Two World Wars. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 5
P. 299
the (non-)ser iousness of cultur e: the case of the lithuanian oper etta
and one had to negotiate not only with them, but also with their bosses” or
“to address musicians who worked in silent cinemas.”15
This first “almost opera”, according to Juozas Tallat-Kelpša,16 although
not really an operetta (because of the historical subject), was very important
for the national consciousness. Despite the simplicity of its storyline and
the music language, as well as lack of resources, this musical drama, created
“just after regaining the right to press in the Lithuanian language, was some
thing wonderful, something sacred”, according to the participants. “They
were all excited and proud to be a part of it.”17 Petrauskas himself directed
the show, but since he was wanted by the tsar’s police for participation, along
with other students, in the Russian revolution of 1905, his name on the post-
er was not mentioned, and no photos of this historic event were taken.18
An opera theatre is a heavy undertaking, both in human and finan-
cial terms. It is therefore quite logical that national opera would always be-
gin its existence with modest forms that have a more symbolic than artistic
value. This was the case in Lithuania for its very first ‘opera’ performance
in 1636, with the musical drama of Italian playwright Virgilio Puccitelli
(1599–1654), The Abduction of Helen (Elena’s Il ratto), presented inside the
Royal Palace of Vilnius. This was also the case with the ‘first national opera’
Birutė by Mikas Petrauskas, presented in 1906 in the building of the cur-
rent Vilnius Philharmonic.
When this historical drama was presented again in Lithuania in 1921,
to celebrate its 15th anniversary, it no longer matched the artistic level and
quality of the musicians, which had both risen significantly:
Fifteen years ago, we were all proud, our tears flowed as we listened
to him, but now Birutė, although supplemented by other works of
the composer, seemed extremely poor to everyone.19
The revival was thus disappointing, although, on the other hand, it
demonstrated the progress towards professionalisation that had been
15 Narbutienė, Muzikinis Kaunas, 15, 18.
16 Burokaitė, Mikas Petrauskas, 209.
17 Ibid., 9.
18 Ibid., 253.
19 Algimantas Kalinauskas, “J. Karnavičiaus operos” [J. Karnavičius operas], in: Jūratė
Burokaitė, Jurgis Karnavičius. Gyvenimo ir kūrybos kelias. Laiškai. Straipsniai apie
kūrybą. Amžininkų atsiminimai [Jurgis Karnavičius. The way of life and creation.
Letters. Articles about creativity. Memories of contemporaries] (Vilnius: Petro ofse-
tas, 2004), 216.
297
and one had to negotiate not only with them, but also with their bosses” or
“to address musicians who worked in silent cinemas.”15
This first “almost opera”, according to Juozas Tallat-Kelpša,16 although
not really an operetta (because of the historical subject), was very important
for the national consciousness. Despite the simplicity of its storyline and
the music language, as well as lack of resources, this musical drama, created
“just after regaining the right to press in the Lithuanian language, was some
thing wonderful, something sacred”, according to the participants. “They
were all excited and proud to be a part of it.”17 Petrauskas himself directed
the show, but since he was wanted by the tsar’s police for participation, along
with other students, in the Russian revolution of 1905, his name on the post-
er was not mentioned, and no photos of this historic event were taken.18
An opera theatre is a heavy undertaking, both in human and finan-
cial terms. It is therefore quite logical that national opera would always be-
gin its existence with modest forms that have a more symbolic than artistic
value. This was the case in Lithuania for its very first ‘opera’ performance
in 1636, with the musical drama of Italian playwright Virgilio Puccitelli
(1599–1654), The Abduction of Helen (Elena’s Il ratto), presented inside the
Royal Palace of Vilnius. This was also the case with the ‘first national opera’
Birutė by Mikas Petrauskas, presented in 1906 in the building of the cur-
rent Vilnius Philharmonic.
When this historical drama was presented again in Lithuania in 1921,
to celebrate its 15th anniversary, it no longer matched the artistic level and
quality of the musicians, which had both risen significantly:
Fifteen years ago, we were all proud, our tears flowed as we listened
to him, but now Birutė, although supplemented by other works of
the composer, seemed extremely poor to everyone.19
The revival was thus disappointing, although, on the other hand, it
demonstrated the progress towards professionalisation that had been
15 Narbutienė, Muzikinis Kaunas, 15, 18.
16 Burokaitė, Mikas Petrauskas, 209.
17 Ibid., 9.
18 Ibid., 253.
19 Algimantas Kalinauskas, “J. Karnavičiaus operos” [J. Karnavičius operas], in: Jūratė
Burokaitė, Jurgis Karnavičius. Gyvenimo ir kūrybos kelias. Laiškai. Straipsniai apie
kūrybą. Amžininkų atsiminimai [Jurgis Karnavičius. The way of life and creation.
Letters. Articles about creativity. Memories of contemporaries] (Vilnius: Petro ofse-
tas, 2004), 216.
297
