Page 123 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2019. Vloga nacionalnih opernih gledališč v 20. in 21. stoletju - The Role of National Opera Houses in the 20th and 21st Centuries. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 3
P. 123
opera and national culture in latvia: the centenary balance
ishing, yet weak and in need of protection. The gallery of characters is en-
riched by the trickster or Traitor, who is a “collaborationist” with Evil and
shares some magic powers with Spīdola, but is materially oriented; and the
blind Black Knight, the symbolic representation of the “Other”, threat and
fear, who literally wants “to destroy all the nation” and at the end of the day
challenges the Bear Slayer to fight and cuts off his bear’s ears, thus making
the hero lose his mythical strength and fall in the River Daugava. The opera
ends with a sentence that opens a wide range of interpretations: “The fight
is not over and will continue…” referring to the striving for an independ-
ent state and unified nation, but also a universal model of continuous de-
velopment. Curiously, the person that links the production of the dramatic
theatre to opera later on is the Latvian actor and opera singer Ādolfs Kak-
tiņš (1885–1965), who had played the role of Lāčplēsis in both productions.
In addition, during the pre-state period, the production of Richard
Wagner’s “Flying Dutchman” (premiered 15/10/1918 in the 2nd Riga City
Theatre, a month before the proclamation of the independent Republic of
Latvia) also plays an important role due to the representation of Latvian na-
tional identity and the idea of the emerging national state. Latvian musicol-
ogist Lolita Fūrmane writes:
At that moment of time the proclamation of Latvia as an independ-
ent state still was just a dream. At the end of the war on the East-
ern front, the German power institute’s political interests were fo-
cused on the Baltics, yet the opportunities vanished with the crash
of Germany’s military power. The motifs of spell, fatality, ghosts [...]
permitted to the public of the second decade of the 20th century per-
ceive the opera as the reflection of blustery reality and the proph-
ecy as well.2 [emphasis mine – L. M. B.]
Namely, the Dutchman’s ship had red sails, and most of the critics saw in
that a symbol of the well-known consequences of the revolution in Russia
in 1917.
The current building of the Latvian National Opera was built as the
Riga City German Theatre in 1863 and it functioned as a German thea-
tre until WW1. The first Latvian opera troupe “Latvju opera” was founded
by Pāvuls Jurjāns in 1912 and continued until 1915, when most of the mu-
sicians emigrated to Estonia and Russia due to the war. In 1918, after the
2 Lolita Fūrmane, “Four Circles of History in the Latvian National Opera,” Latvian
National Opera (Riga: Jumava, 2000), 114. (In Latvian)
121
ishing, yet weak and in need of protection. The gallery of characters is en-
riched by the trickster or Traitor, who is a “collaborationist” with Evil and
shares some magic powers with Spīdola, but is materially oriented; and the
blind Black Knight, the symbolic representation of the “Other”, threat and
fear, who literally wants “to destroy all the nation” and at the end of the day
challenges the Bear Slayer to fight and cuts off his bear’s ears, thus making
the hero lose his mythical strength and fall in the River Daugava. The opera
ends with a sentence that opens a wide range of interpretations: “The fight
is not over and will continue…” referring to the striving for an independ-
ent state and unified nation, but also a universal model of continuous de-
velopment. Curiously, the person that links the production of the dramatic
theatre to opera later on is the Latvian actor and opera singer Ādolfs Kak-
tiņš (1885–1965), who had played the role of Lāčplēsis in both productions.
In addition, during the pre-state period, the production of Richard
Wagner’s “Flying Dutchman” (premiered 15/10/1918 in the 2nd Riga City
Theatre, a month before the proclamation of the independent Republic of
Latvia) also plays an important role due to the representation of Latvian na-
tional identity and the idea of the emerging national state. Latvian musicol-
ogist Lolita Fūrmane writes:
At that moment of time the proclamation of Latvia as an independ-
ent state still was just a dream. At the end of the war on the East-
ern front, the German power institute’s political interests were fo-
cused on the Baltics, yet the opportunities vanished with the crash
of Germany’s military power. The motifs of spell, fatality, ghosts [...]
permitted to the public of the second decade of the 20th century per-
ceive the opera as the reflection of blustery reality and the proph-
ecy as well.2 [emphasis mine – L. M. B.]
Namely, the Dutchman’s ship had red sails, and most of the critics saw in
that a symbol of the well-known consequences of the revolution in Russia
in 1917.
The current building of the Latvian National Opera was built as the
Riga City German Theatre in 1863 and it functioned as a German thea-
tre until WW1. The first Latvian opera troupe “Latvju opera” was founded
by Pāvuls Jurjāns in 1912 and continued until 1915, when most of the mu-
sicians emigrated to Estonia and Russia due to the war. In 1918, after the
2 Lolita Fūrmane, “Four Circles of History in the Latvian National Opera,” Latvian
National Opera (Riga: Jumava, 2000), 114. (In Latvian)
121
