To mark the 220th anniversary of Prosper Mérimée's birth
An opera in 2 acts, sung in Lithuanian
Libretto by Aušra Marija Sluckaitė-Jurašienė after Prosper Mérimée's novella Lokis. A Manuscript of Professor Wittembach
The Bear (2000) is the third opera by Lithuanian composer Bronius Kutavičius (1932–2021) and his first contribution to the genre of grand opera – if not in terms of duration, then in terms of large-scale cast including many soloists, full orchestra, mixed choir, and even ballet scenes. It is often described as a ‘mystic thriller’ based on a libretto by Lithuanian writer Aušra Marija Sluckaitė-Jurašienė, in which she retold the story of a bloody wedding taken from the gothic fantasy novella Lokis (1869) by Prosper Mérimée. The story is set in the ‘savage land’ – a remote corner in 19th-century Samogitia – where folk customs and pagan beliefs still have a hold on population. A pastor coming from Königsberg to visit his old friend, Count Szémioth, finds himself the guest of a strange family consisting of the young count, Michel, who exhibits animalistic behaviours, and his mad mother who, as legend has it, was raped by a bear at her own wedding. Reputed to be the product of this bestial assault, the half-human half-bear falls in love with the beautiful girl from the next manor, Miss Julia, and asks for her hand in marriage in hopes of taming his dual nature. But the beast takes over his personality until he finally kills his bride by a bite to her throat on their wedding night …
The opera was commissioned by the 2000 Vilnius Festival and premiered that same year at the Lithuanian National Opera Theatre where it ran until 2007. In the fall of 2022, the 90th anniversary of the composer’s birth was marked with the second production of The Bear at the Klaipėda State Music Theatre where it was staged by renowned Lithuanian theatre director Gintaras Varnas. When describing in what respects his staging was different from the previous production by Jonas Jurašas, he told that he was “not so much concerned with the ethnographic details of the novella or the image of Lithuania as a backward, barbaric ‘country of murderers,’ which was quite widespread in Western European literature at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Today it seems so much more exciting to treat this opera as gothic fiction. The plot itself can be easily classified into a vampire theme characteristic of horror movies of the silent era. The plot centres on the dark side of human nature, the duality of human-beast, and on the issue of how much bestiality there is in the human soul, to what extent one can defy bestiality and retain humanity.”
Collision between human bestiality / feral nature (symbolized by a bear in the opera’s title and epigraph Meška su lokiu abu labu tokiu – “Grizzly and bear make a pair”) and human society / civilization is the key theme in this opera, which underpins both conceptual and visual design of this production. It is manifested through the conflict between the manor house and murky woods, civilized world and primordial chaos, culture and nature, light and darkness. These dichotomies were embodied on stage by a team of acclaimed Lithuanian artists and conductor Martynas Staškus as its Music Director, who had previously collaborated with Kutavičius during the first production of this opera at the LNOBT and the recording sessions for the Finnish label Ondine (2002).
AWARDS
Mask of Gratitude (25/03/2023, Klaipėda) to Gintaras Varnas for the staging of Bronius Kutavičius opera Lokys (The Bear) in the category Best Director of the Year
Golden Stage Cross (26/03/2023, Vilnius) to Gunta Gelgotė for the role of Julia in Bronius Kutavičius opera Lokys (The Bear) in the category Best Soloist of the Year
