Page 301 - 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
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the (non-)ser iousness of cultur e: the case of the lithuanian oper etta
In 1932, when Robert Planquette’s operetta Les Cloches de Corneville
was premiered at the Kaunas Opera Theatre, a heated discussion followed
among Lithuanian composers on the issue “should we stage operettas in the
opera theatre?”22 Despite strong opposition from the leading composers of
the time, such as Vytautas Bacevičius, another operetta, The Gypsy Bar
on by Johann Strauss, was finally staged two years later, in 1934. Paradox-
ically, it was a total failure: “the lightness of the true Viennese style was not
grasped”, “the operetta gave the impression of being an opera.”23 This proves
that not only was the operetta very poorly integrated into cultural life, but
also that it was totally foreign to the Lithuanian culture of the time.
Moreover, even after the Second World War, the word ‘operetta’ among
the community of Lithuanian composers was used to designate incompe-
tence or a lack of value. For example, in 1948, when the composer Konstan-
tinas Galkauskas was leafing through a collection of Soviet songs, which
the secretary of the Union of Composers presented to him as examples to
follow, he replied, “I don’t think it’s serious music, it’s like an operetta.”24
Operetta at the service of the national awakening
All Lithuanian operettas from the interwar period were written by a single
composer, Mikas Petrauskas. In addition, they were all written abroad, in
St. Petersburg (2), Switzerland (1) and the United States (14):
In St Petersburg:
Kaminkrėtys ir malūnininkas [The Chimney Sweep and the Mill-
er] (1903)
Adomas ir Ieva [Adam and Eve] (1905)
In Zurich (Switzerland):
Šienapjūtė [Hay-making] (1910)
22 Jonas Bruveris, “Muzikos atlikimo menas. Muzikinis teatras. Opera” [The Art of
Performing Music. Musical theater. Opera], in Lietuvos muzikos istorija – II, Ne
priklausomybės metai 1918–1940 [Lithuanian music history – II, Independence years
1918–1940], ed. Algirdas J. Ambrazas (Vilnius: LMTA, 2009), 127 (117–57).
23 Jakubėnas, Straipsniai ir recenzijos, 457, 166.
24 “Report of A. Klenickis, Executive Secretary of the Organizing Committee of the
Union of Soviet Composers of the Lithuanian SSR, at the First Congress of Soviet
Composers of the Lithuanian SSR, Vilnius, January 23, 1948,” in Muzika 1940–1960.
Dokumentų rinkinys [Music from 1940 to 1960. A set of documents] (Vilnius, [s. n.],
1992), 86.
299
In 1932, when Robert Planquette’s operetta Les Cloches de Corneville
was premiered at the Kaunas Opera Theatre, a heated discussion followed
among Lithuanian composers on the issue “should we stage operettas in the
opera theatre?”22 Despite strong opposition from the leading composers of
the time, such as Vytautas Bacevičius, another operetta, The Gypsy Bar
on by Johann Strauss, was finally staged two years later, in 1934. Paradox-
ically, it was a total failure: “the lightness of the true Viennese style was not
grasped”, “the operetta gave the impression of being an opera.”23 This proves
that not only was the operetta very poorly integrated into cultural life, but
also that it was totally foreign to the Lithuanian culture of the time.
Moreover, even after the Second World War, the word ‘operetta’ among
the community of Lithuanian composers was used to designate incompe-
tence or a lack of value. For example, in 1948, when the composer Konstan-
tinas Galkauskas was leafing through a collection of Soviet songs, which
the secretary of the Union of Composers presented to him as examples to
follow, he replied, “I don’t think it’s serious music, it’s like an operetta.”24
Operetta at the service of the national awakening
All Lithuanian operettas from the interwar period were written by a single
composer, Mikas Petrauskas. In addition, they were all written abroad, in
St. Petersburg (2), Switzerland (1) and the United States (14):
In St Petersburg:
Kaminkrėtys ir malūnininkas [The Chimney Sweep and the Mill-
er] (1903)
Adomas ir Ieva [Adam and Eve] (1905)
In Zurich (Switzerland):
Šienapjūtė [Hay-making] (1910)
22 Jonas Bruveris, “Muzikos atlikimo menas. Muzikinis teatras. Opera” [The Art of
Performing Music. Musical theater. Opera], in Lietuvos muzikos istorija – II, Ne
priklausomybės metai 1918–1940 [Lithuanian music history – II, Independence years
1918–1940], ed. Algirdas J. Ambrazas (Vilnius: LMTA, 2009), 127 (117–57).
23 Jakubėnas, Straipsniai ir recenzijos, 457, 166.
24 “Report of A. Klenickis, Executive Secretary of the Organizing Committee of the
Union of Soviet Composers of the Lithuanian SSR, at the First Congress of Soviet
Composers of the Lithuanian SSR, Vilnius, January 23, 1948,” in Muzika 1940–1960.
Dokumentų rinkinys [Music from 1940 to 1960. A set of documents] (Vilnius, [s. n.],
1992), 86.
299
