Page 300 - 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. 300
opereta med obema svetovnima vojnama
achieved over 15 years by the theatre troupe, and also the greater demands
of the public.
In Klaipėda, the second Lithuanian city of the time, the operetta also
played the role of ‘a progressive introduction to opera’. In 1922, when this
part of the country was still under French occupation, a local choir called
Aida staged an operetta by Petrauskas entitled Consilium Facultatis. In 1927
it was staged again, and more professionally, by the teachers and students of
the conservatory, with the help of the Klaipėda Singing Society. A year lat-
er, the same musical forces staged Birutė by Petrauskas and then Faust by
Charles Gounod.20 We clearly see the repetition of the same pattern in the
construction of an opera culture: a progression from the operetta, through
a musical drama, to the opera. In this progression, the operetta is not con-
sidered as a genre in its own right. In other words, it is not considered as
a goal in itself. It serves just for testing, preparing, and mobilising musical
and artistic forces for ‘true opera’, which is the ultimate goal of a culture
that wants to be ‘national’.
The main concern of Lithuanian society between the two world wars,
at least when it came to music, was the desire to rapidly improve the quality
of musicians. Last year I spoke at this conference about the choices made by
the conservatories of the country, since they corresponded only to the real
needs of musical institutions, such as symphony orchestras, and especially
the State Opera. The operetta, which was a rather amateur undertaking and
thus drew the level of professional musicians down, was both unappreciat-
ed and considered by the musicians themselves as harmful to their careers.
The composer Vladas Jakubėnas, who was one of the main musical
critics of the time, wrote upon his return from Riga in 1934:
The Latvian opera and the Latvian audiences follow really strange
paths. A few years ago, Latvian opera turned to business. [...] The
platitude and banality of music and content are not tolerable to
any cultured spectator. [...] Operettas have had a negative influence
on the performance of operas: the best artists, ‘infatuated with op
eretta’, have begun to show signs of artistic decline; the same thing
happened with the orchestra [...].”21
20 Daiva Kšanienė, “Lietuviškam Klaipėdos operos teatrui – 75-eri” [Lithuanian
Klaipėda Opera House – 75 years], Durys, https://durys.diena.lt/lietuviskam-klaipe-
dos-operos-teatrui-75-eri/7878.
21 Jakubėnas, Straipsniai ir recenzijos, 127.
298
achieved over 15 years by the theatre troupe, and also the greater demands
of the public.
In Klaipėda, the second Lithuanian city of the time, the operetta also
played the role of ‘a progressive introduction to opera’. In 1922, when this
part of the country was still under French occupation, a local choir called
Aida staged an operetta by Petrauskas entitled Consilium Facultatis. In 1927
it was staged again, and more professionally, by the teachers and students of
the conservatory, with the help of the Klaipėda Singing Society. A year lat-
er, the same musical forces staged Birutė by Petrauskas and then Faust by
Charles Gounod.20 We clearly see the repetition of the same pattern in the
construction of an opera culture: a progression from the operetta, through
a musical drama, to the opera. In this progression, the operetta is not con-
sidered as a genre in its own right. In other words, it is not considered as
a goal in itself. It serves just for testing, preparing, and mobilising musical
and artistic forces for ‘true opera’, which is the ultimate goal of a culture
that wants to be ‘national’.
The main concern of Lithuanian society between the two world wars,
at least when it came to music, was the desire to rapidly improve the quality
of musicians. Last year I spoke at this conference about the choices made by
the conservatories of the country, since they corresponded only to the real
needs of musical institutions, such as symphony orchestras, and especially
the State Opera. The operetta, which was a rather amateur undertaking and
thus drew the level of professional musicians down, was both unappreciat-
ed and considered by the musicians themselves as harmful to their careers.
The composer Vladas Jakubėnas, who was one of the main musical
critics of the time, wrote upon his return from Riga in 1934:
The Latvian opera and the Latvian audiences follow really strange
paths. A few years ago, Latvian opera turned to business. [...] The
platitude and banality of music and content are not tolerable to
any cultured spectator. [...] Operettas have had a negative influence
on the performance of operas: the best artists, ‘infatuated with op
eretta’, have begun to show signs of artistic decline; the same thing
happened with the orchestra [...].”21
20 Daiva Kšanienė, “Lietuviškam Klaipėdos operos teatrui – 75-eri” [Lithuanian
Klaipėda Opera House – 75 years], Durys, https://durys.diena.lt/lietuviskam-klaipe-
dos-operos-teatrui-75-eri/7878.
21 Jakubėnas, Straipsniai ir recenzijos, 127.
298
