THE BEAR (Kutavičius) Klaipeda 2023 Andrius Apšega, Gunta Gelgotė, Vladimiras Prudnikovas
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Information on the Performance
- Work Title: The Bear or Lokys
- Composer: Kutavičius Bronius
- Libretto: Aušra Marija Sluckaitė-Jurašienė Libretto Text, Libretto Index
- Venue & Opera Company: Klaipėda State Music Theatre, Lithuania
- Recorded: Octoebr 22, 2022
- Type: Staged Opera Live
- Singers: Andrius Apšega, Gunta Gelgotė, Vladimiras Prudnikovas, Jovita Vaškevičiūtė, Aurelija Dovydaitienė, Tadas Jakas, Mindaugas Rojus, Šarūnas Šapalas
- Conductor: Martynas Staškus
- Orchestra: Klaipėda State Music Theatre Symphony Orchestra
- Chorus: Klaipėda State Music Theatre Chorus
- Chorus Master: Vladimiras Konstantinovas
- Choreographer: Mantas Stabačinskas
Information about the Recording
- Published by: OperaVision
- Date Published: 2023
- Format: Streaming
- Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
- Subtitles: yessubs, ensubs, othersubs
- This Recording is NOT AVAILABLE from a proper commercial or public source
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
Lokys is a 2000 Lithuanian-language opera by Bronius Kutavičius to a libretto by Aušra Marija Sluckaitė-Jurašienė based on the novella by Prosper Mérimée.
Bronius Kutavičius (13 September 1932 – 29 September 2021) was a Lithuanian composer and academic composition teacher. He wrote numerous oratorios and operas, often inspired by ancient Lithuanian polytheistic beliefs and music. He also composed film scores, orchestral works and chamber music. Kutavičius is regarded as a symbol of Lithuanian cultural identity, both in music and in politics. Among many awards, he received the Lithuanian State Prize in 1987.
Born in Molainiai, Panevėžys County, Kutavičius studied composition at the Lithuanian State Conservatory in Vilnius from 1959 to 1964, in Antanas Račiūnas’s composition class. He studied Western techniques such as random operations, timbre experiments and spatial sound concepts (Zufallsoperationen, Klangfarbenexperimente und Raumklangkonzepte). From the 1970s, he studied the folklore of Lithuania, songs, dances, and cults, with ethnological methods. He composed numerous oratorios and operas, among them The Last Pagan Rites, inspired by ancient Lithuanian polytheistic beliefs and music. From the 1990s, he integrated musical cultures including countries such as Japan and Karelia. He worked from 1991 to 1995 on one of his major works, The Gates of Jerusalem, which earned him the Lithuanian State Prize in 1996. He composed his first opera in 2000, Lokys to a libretto by Aušra Marija Sluckaitė-Jurašienė based on the novella by Prosper Mérimée.
His music is performed at international festivals, including the Warsaw Autumn, the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Mare Balticum, Wratislavia Cantans, Vale of Glamorgan Festival, Spitalfields Festival, MaerzMusik, ISCM World Music Days in Vilnius.
Kutavičius was a member of the executive council of the Soviet-Lithuanian composers’ association, but maintained an independent mindset without concessions to the occupation. His works inspired the movement towards independence in the 1980s.
Kutavičius taught composition at Čiurlionis School of Art from 1975, and at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater from 1984, appointed professor a year later. He retired from teaching in 2000.
Kutavičius died in Vilnius at age 89.
Quoted from Wikipedia