PMT

Bronius Kutavičius, Sigitas Geda

Opera-poem

STRAZDAS – ŽALIAS PAUKŠTIS (The Thrush – A Green Bird)

Director Jonas Vaitkus Music Director and Conductor Dr. Imantas Jonas Šimkus Set Designer Arvydas Gudas Costume Designer Kristina Kruopienytė Choreographer Inga Fontez-Sakurako

Roles and Performers:

Strazdas – Arminas Skirvainis Woman-Bird – Gunta Gelgotė (06.21 and 10.03), Salomėja Petronytė (09.11) Priests, women and men — Artists of the Panevėžys Musical Theatre Choir Organ part – Arsenijus Esaulkov Panevėžio muzikinio teatro orkestras, Chief Conductor E. Pehk Folk instrument ensemble of the Panevėžys Bronius Vaidutis Kutavičius Music School

When the human returned to the Bird,

The Bird, in turn, went to the Human.

The opera-poem "Strazdas – Žalias Paukštis", created by prominent artists Bronius Kutavičius and Sigitas Geda, reveals the subtle poetic powers of the word, the elemental force of nature and love, the beauty of music, and the importance of national history. The image of the peasant poet Strazdelis (Antanas Strazdas-Drazdauskas), grown from the metaphor of wings, the bird-like surname of the poet, and his unique personality, is transformed into the character of the Human-Bird in the production created by director Jonas Vaitkus. Through various elements of expression, dance, folklore, and traditional chants, the performance speaks about the union of man and woman, the depths of the spirit, the boundaries between nature and human, and the meaning of existence.

In the autumn of 2023, "Strazdas – Žalias Paukštis" was reborn in Bronius Kutavičius's hometown, at the Panevėžys Musical Theatre. The production, just like the first time, was staged by director Jonas Vaitkus. This time, the opera-poem is performed live, without sound recordings. The music director is the talented young-generation conductor Imantas Jonas Šimkus.

First, Sigitas Geda wrote the poem "Strazdas" (1967), later composer Bronius Kutavičius wrote an unusual oratorio, calling it a "sound drama," later renaming it to the opera-poem "Strazdas – Žalias Paukštis" (1980), and Jonas Vaitkus, based on these works, created an unforgettable ritualistic, sacral spectacle on the stage of the Kaunas Drama Theatre in 1984. A cinematic version of the performance was created in the 1990s. The "Strazdas" of those years seemed to invite a retreat from "politics" into the sphere of pure art and to immerse oneself in a flow of images of refined beauty that combined the aesthetic principles of Lithuanian folk art and traditional Eastern theatre.