Page 126 - 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. 126
vloga nacionalnih opernih gledališč v 20. in 21. stoletju
Kaktiņš, in turn, also refers to “White House” in his memoirs “Opera of my
Life” (1965, published in Latvia in 1992). The concept of the “White House”
is the symbol of belonging, “house” standing for home both in the mean-
ing of native theatre and in the wider meaning of motherland and “white”
referring to the actual colour of the building and to the symbolic meanings
of good, beautiful, noble. and close to the heart:
To quote Mariss Vētra:
I loved my White House. It was my White House and I belonged
to it as a Latvian peasant belongs to his piece of land and home.
However, this sense of belonging was not exclusively mine. Every-
one crossing the threshold of the White House became contaminat-
ed with that particular feeling that some part of his or her heart
stayed therein forever.3 [emphasis mine – L. M. B.].
Mariss Vētra uses the term “White House” as a synonym of the Latvian Na-
tional Opera as the building and as the institution:
We had many set designers at the White House. [...] The inspector
of the White House wanted to save some resources [...] Plenty of the
productions in the White House can be proud that Pēteris Rožlapa
has contributed his work, taste and knowledge.4
Baritone Ādolfs Kaktiņš, in turn, writes: “Although there were several sim-
ilar opera houses in Europe, in our hearts our White House was the most
beautiful and the best.”5 The semantics of the concept include the idea of lo-
cus (a particular place) and a definite space in the collective cultural mem-
ory of the Latvian nation.
Both books of memoirs of the singers were published in Latvia only at
the beginning of 1990s after the collapse of the USSR and the restoration
of independence of the Republic of Latvia, restoring at the same time the
link between the previous and restored independent Latvia among others
through the concept of the “White House”. The symbolic status of the term
was enhanced by the fact that between 1990 and 1995 the opera house was
under reconstruction, which had a serious impact on the artistic activities
of the institution – many leading and young soloists worked and studied
abroad, some of them retired, some worked in a “project mode”, but others
3 Mariss Vetra, My White House (Riga: Teatra Anekdosu Apgads, 1991), 1. (In La-
tvian).
4 Ibid., 162–163.
5 Adolfs Kaktins, Opera of My Life (Stokholm: Daugava, 1965), 126. (In Latvian).
124
Kaktiņš, in turn, also refers to “White House” in his memoirs “Opera of my
Life” (1965, published in Latvia in 1992). The concept of the “White House”
is the symbol of belonging, “house” standing for home both in the mean-
ing of native theatre and in the wider meaning of motherland and “white”
referring to the actual colour of the building and to the symbolic meanings
of good, beautiful, noble. and close to the heart:
To quote Mariss Vētra:
I loved my White House. It was my White House and I belonged
to it as a Latvian peasant belongs to his piece of land and home.
However, this sense of belonging was not exclusively mine. Every-
one crossing the threshold of the White House became contaminat-
ed with that particular feeling that some part of his or her heart
stayed therein forever.3 [emphasis mine – L. M. B.].
Mariss Vētra uses the term “White House” as a synonym of the Latvian Na-
tional Opera as the building and as the institution:
We had many set designers at the White House. [...] The inspector
of the White House wanted to save some resources [...] Plenty of the
productions in the White House can be proud that Pēteris Rožlapa
has contributed his work, taste and knowledge.4
Baritone Ādolfs Kaktiņš, in turn, writes: “Although there were several sim-
ilar opera houses in Europe, in our hearts our White House was the most
beautiful and the best.”5 The semantics of the concept include the idea of lo-
cus (a particular place) and a definite space in the collective cultural mem-
ory of the Latvian nation.
Both books of memoirs of the singers were published in Latvia only at
the beginning of 1990s after the collapse of the USSR and the restoration
of independence of the Republic of Latvia, restoring at the same time the
link between the previous and restored independent Latvia among others
through the concept of the “White House”. The symbolic status of the term
was enhanced by the fact that between 1990 and 1995 the opera house was
under reconstruction, which had a serious impact on the artistic activities
of the institution – many leading and young soloists worked and studied
abroad, some of them retired, some worked in a “project mode”, but others
3 Mariss Vetra, My White House (Riga: Teatra Anekdosu Apgads, 1991), 1. (In La-
tvian).
4 Ibid., 162–163.
5 Adolfs Kaktins, Opera of My Life (Stokholm: Daugava, 1965), 126. (In Latvian).
124
