Vytautė Markeliūnienė (PDF)
https://doi.org/10.53631/MIS/2025.17.6
In the historiography of Lithuanian musical theatre, Vilnius Opera Company, a unique phenomenon that established itself during the war and German occupation period, was primarily explored as a part of cultural development of musical theatre and arts in general, considering its repertoire, activities and issues related to their possibilities. During the period, development of Lithuanian arts was directly dependent on the political situation and specific conditions of cultural existence which got dramatically complicated at the time of occupations and war, from 1940 to 1944.
The activities of Vilnius Opera company covered the war and German occupation period, starting with the premiere of Charles Gounod’s Faust in March, 1942, while the end coincided with another historical transformation from Nazi to soviet occupation and was marked by the last premiere of Gioachino Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia in June, 1944. Despite the fact that the administration of Vilnius Opera had plans for future performances (which is evident from surviving documents and artefacts), the work of the company was disrupted on the last day of June and was never renewed. Both the members of the administration and staff spread out choosing various paths: some moved to the West, some remained in the occupied homeland, some chose repatriation. Their further activities varied as well; some joined other opera companies, some got engaged in pedagogical activities, others started looking for different forms of creative self-realization. Throughout three seasons, although not complete, Vilnius Opera company was closely related to Vilnius City Theatre, finally, becoming a part of its structural organization in 1943, thus forming a typical of western culture City Theatre institution, embracing drama, opera and ballet. However, the work of three different companies “under one roof” was not very easy under tense war and occupation conditions.
The activities of Vilnius Opera Company had been previously explored by the author of this paper, employing historical, statistical or culturological methods. As time goes on, new evidence and memoirs of the contemporaries related to Vilnius Opera Company appeared or were discovered. This inspired further research of the activities of the Company from anthropological perspective, thus seeking better understanding of cultural and social contexts of the time as well as tendencies in the behavior and daily routine of the theatrical community. On the one hand, this led the author to a more extensive presentation of written evidence, relevant to the topic, from diaries and memoirs of the contemporaries and from the records of rehearsals and performances in Vilnius Opera journal. On the other hand, the authentic evidence has (in)directly indicated that tendencies in cultural development observed during this tragic period can be regarded as continuity of cultural tradition of the years of Independence.
Keywords: Vilnius Opera Company, years of war, Vilnius Opera journal of rehearsals and performances, opera performances, rehearsals