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One of the newest performances of the Klaipėda State Musical Theater – the small performance story opera „Klaipėda” goes on a much-awaited tour: March 7. 6 p.m. you are welcome at the Tauragė cultural center, and on March 10 at 5 p.m. – Šilute culture and entertainment center.
We invite you to experience the excitement of an important historical moment together!
The story opera „Klaipėda”, which received a huge ovation in the summer, is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the annexation of Klaipėda region to Lithuania. It was commissioned by KVMT by four Klaipėda composers – Loreta Narvilaitė, Vladimiras Konstantinovs, Kristijonas Lučinskas and Donatas Bielkauskas. The libretto for the opera was written by Arvydas Juozaitis. The music director and conductor of the performance Tomas Ambrozaitis, director Gytis Padegimas, scenographer and costume designer Birutė Ukrinaitė, choreographer Aušra Krasauskaitė. The central axes of the dramaturgy of the opera are the concepts describing the history of the Klaipėda region – Man, Faith, Language. Today, in the context of a troubled world, these truths are more important than ever.
Like a legend
The 3rd International Klaipėda Festival presented the story opera „Klaipėda” dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the annexation of the Klaipėda region to Lithuania in Paulius Lindenau's elinge in the summer, as if once again connected Little Lithuania to Great Lithuania through the language of art. The Klaipėda State Musical Theater, which has been preparing this exceptional premiere for more than two years, received many favorable reviews from the audience. Eling's scale cannot be accommodated on a regular stage, so a smaller version of the play is on tour.
G. Padegimas, the director of the story opera „Klaipėda”, says that with this production he wanted to look at the events of the annexation of Klaipėda to Lithuania as if they were a legend. „It's not that we want to recreate historical figures, exact dates… The story opera „Klaipėda” does not focus on the reproduction of historical events, but on the presentation of a legend. The first remark of Arvydas Juozaitis, author of the libretto of the story opera „Klaipėda”, is very beautiful to me: „Through the fog you can see the spiers of Klaipėda's churches”. And we, the creators of the story opera, see this story as if through a fog a century later,” assures G. Padegimas.
A. Juozaitis's view of the historical event
The libretto for the story opera „Klaipėda” is not the first touch of A. Juozaitis as a dramatist on the history of the Klaipėda region. in 2015 he wrote the play „Queen Luizė”, which was staged in the Klaipėda Drama Theater by the same G. Padegimas, who also started staging the new story opera in the Klaipėda Elinga. In the same performance, he was assisted by stage designer and costume designer B. Ukrinaitė.
Interesting coincidence! A year later, A. Juozaitis wrote the city epic „Klaipėda – The Secret of Mēmelis”, and even later a historical drama about Immanuel Kant. A. Juozaitis tells about the 20th century in the opera libretto. the events of the beginning and the personalities of Little Lithuania, through whose efforts Klaipėda region was joined to Great Lithuania after almost five hundred years of being under the rule of the Teutonic Order and Prussia.
The šilutiške will speak in a Shišian manner
One of the most prominent stories in the opera „Klaipėda” is the former bookseller, intelligence officer Jonas Polovinskas-Budrys. The performer of this role is Valdas Kazlauskas. The very important role of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania, Ernesto Galvanauskas, is performed by the soloist Aurimas Raulinavičius. „Klaipėda” unites a whole group of bright personalities of the country's history: evangelical priest Vilius Gaigalaitis – soloist Šarūnas Juškevičius, political leader of the Klaipėda uprising Erdmons Simonaitis – soloist Šarūnas Šapala, printer Martynas Jankės – soloist Mindaugas Rojus, M. Jankaus's daughter Elze – soloist Rosana Štemanetian, Katrė – soloist Judita Butkytė, the young writer Ėvė Simonaitė (Ieva Simonaitytė) – soloist Ernesta Stankutė, her mother Ėtmė Simonait – soloist Rita Petrauskaitė, Vydūnas – Martynas Stankevičius, the chairman of the Riflemen's Union Vincas Krėvė-Mickevičius – soloist Kęstutis Nevulis, one of the leaders of the uprising Mika Bajor – soloist Virginijus Pupšys, Darius Stepona – Gytis Šimelionis, Adjutant – Evert Sooster. A very interesting character is Gabrielis Žanas Petisnė, prefect of Memel – the part is performed by a young and very promising soloist Giedrius Gečys, Petisnė is a woman for whom Klaipėda is like a corner of the world – soloist Beata Ignatavičiūtė. „Many bright, interesting soloists in small roles or even cameos, because many historical figures contributed to the uprising. This was probably the idea of the libretto author Arvydas Juozaitis – to present a wide panorama of personalities without focusing on one, because almost each of these characters is worthy of a separate novel or opera,” says director G. Padegimas.
By the way, in the story opera „Klaipėda” next to historical figures, the incarnations of „local spirits” appear, as, for example, the sculpture Tarava's Anikė – Yuliia Kovalenko is reborn, Vaida Galinskienė from Šiluti, who teaches the Šišioniški dialect, becomes the spirit of the Šišioniškii.
In the finale of the story opera, the words „We are one nation, one land, one Lithuania!” of the writer Ēvė Simonait (Ieva Simonaitytė) are heard, which are also written on the monument to a united Lithuania „Arka” standing in Klaipėda (sculptor Arūnas Sakalauskas, 2003). The finale of the opera is like a general tribute to historical figures and recognition of the country's unity, which is particularly important at this time.
Klaipėda State Musical Theater information