Page 556 - 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. 556
opereta med obema svetovnima vojnama
Vita Gruodytė
The (Non-)Seriousness of Culture:
The Case of the Lithuanian Operetta
Historically, the first composer to use the word ‘operetta’ and to make fun
of the ‘minor works’ of his time was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Although
the operetta has since become a genre in itself, in Lithuania, which was in
full construction of its cultural identity at the beginning of the 20th century,
it was perceived as quite problematic. Whereas the importance of the opera
had been unquestionable since the creation of the first Lithuanian opera in
1906, and the majority of the cultural state funding had been allocated to
it, the operetta, in contrast, was considered as a genre that inevitably pulled
down the professional level of the musicians involved. This belittling of op-
eretta spans the entire interwar period.
The paradigm of a necessarily ‘serious’ national culture, coupled with the
criticism of musical critics, marginalised the ‘non-serious’ genres such as
the operetta. Instead of disappearing, however, the genre found another
way out: high-level variety music. The eternal debate on high vs low art not
only influenced national cultural prejudices, but also formed the basis of a
global vision of cultures, as Adorno (in Paralipomena) showed when com-
paring French ‘entertainment’ to ‘serious’ German art.
Keywords: Lithuanian music, Operetta, Opera, Cabaret
Matthieu Guillot
Operetta as a Cultural and Historical Symptom:
Offenbach through Karl Kraus
Operetta is maybe more a striking symptom than a simple musical genre.
Oscillating between frivolous and serious music, between entertainment
and the spirit of the time, its real content can be analyzed based on the
writings of Karl Kraus (1874–1936). The famous Viennese polemist made
many adaptations of Offenbach operettas. Indeed, Operetta reveals its po-
tential to hide the reality – the ‘untruth’ in the sense of Theodor Adorno.
For Kraus, who rediscovered Offenbach by the prism of his time, the “laws
of chaos” are the true foundation of the operetta: they combine the sooth-
ing effect of music with an innocent gaiety that suggests, in confusion, “the
true absurdity of the world”. In his famous public readings (called “theater
of poetry”), Kraus invents an original approach which highlights the satiri-
cal content of the booklets.
554
Vita Gruodytė
The (Non-)Seriousness of Culture:
The Case of the Lithuanian Operetta
Historically, the first composer to use the word ‘operetta’ and to make fun
of the ‘minor works’ of his time was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Although
the operetta has since become a genre in itself, in Lithuania, which was in
full construction of its cultural identity at the beginning of the 20th century,
it was perceived as quite problematic. Whereas the importance of the opera
had been unquestionable since the creation of the first Lithuanian opera in
1906, and the majority of the cultural state funding had been allocated to
it, the operetta, in contrast, was considered as a genre that inevitably pulled
down the professional level of the musicians involved. This belittling of op-
eretta spans the entire interwar period.
The paradigm of a necessarily ‘serious’ national culture, coupled with the
criticism of musical critics, marginalised the ‘non-serious’ genres such as
the operetta. Instead of disappearing, however, the genre found another
way out: high-level variety music. The eternal debate on high vs low art not
only influenced national cultural prejudices, but also formed the basis of a
global vision of cultures, as Adorno (in Paralipomena) showed when com-
paring French ‘entertainment’ to ‘serious’ German art.
Keywords: Lithuanian music, Operetta, Opera, Cabaret
Matthieu Guillot
Operetta as a Cultural and Historical Symptom:
Offenbach through Karl Kraus
Operetta is maybe more a striking symptom than a simple musical genre.
Oscillating between frivolous and serious music, between entertainment
and the spirit of the time, its real content can be analyzed based on the
writings of Karl Kraus (1874–1936). The famous Viennese polemist made
many adaptations of Offenbach operettas. Indeed, Operetta reveals its po-
tential to hide the reality – the ‘untruth’ in the sense of Theodor Adorno.
For Kraus, who rediscovered Offenbach by the prism of his time, the “laws
of chaos” are the true foundation of the operetta: they combine the sooth-
ing effect of music with an innocent gaiety that suggests, in confusion, “the
true absurdity of the world”. In his famous public readings (called “theater
of poetry”), Kraus invents an original approach which highlights the satiri-
cal content of the booklets.
554
