Opera-Poem: The Thrush – Green Bird

Bronius Kutavičius, Sigitas Geda

Opera-poem THE THRUSH – GREEN BIRD
Director: Jonas Vaitkus
Musical director and conductor: Dr. Imantas Jonas Šimkus
Set designer: Arvydas Gudas
Costume designer: Kristina Kruopienytė
Choreographer: Inga Fontez-Sakurako

Roles and performers:
The Thrush – Arminas Skirvainis
Woman-Bird – Salomėja Petronytė
Priests, women and men – Panevėžio Musical Theatre Choir
Organ part – Arsenijus Esaulkov
Panevėžio Musical Theatre Orchestra, principal conductor E. Pehk
Panevėžio Music School Folk Instrument Ensemble

“When the human returned to the Bird, the Bird, in turn, went to the Human.”

The opera-poem “The Thrush – Green Bird,” created by the distinguished artists Bronius Kutavičius and Sigitas Geda, reveals the subtle poetic power of words, the elemental force of nature and love, the beauty of music and the importance of the nation’s history. In director Jonas Vaitkus’s production, the image of the peasant bard Strazdelis (Antanas Strazdas-Drazdauskas), shaped by the metaphor of wings, the bird-like surname of the poet and his distinctive personality, is transformed into the character of the Human-Bird. Through various forms of expression, dance, folklore elements and traditional hymns, the production explores the union of man and woman, the depths of the spirit, the boundaries between nature and humanity, and the meaning of existence.

In autumn 2023, “The Thrush – Green Bird” was revived in the hometown of Bronius Kutavičius, at Panevėžio Musical Theatre. As on the first occasion, the production was directed by Jonas Vaitkus. This time, the opera-poem is performed live, without recordings. Its musical director is Imantas Jonas Šimkus, a talented conductor of the younger generation.

First, Sigitas Geda wrote the poem “The Thrush” (1967). Composer Bronius Kutavičius later created an unusual oratorio, calling it a “drama of sounds,” and subsequently renamed it the opera-poem “The Thrush – Green Bird” (1980). In 1984, drawing on these works, Jonas Vaitkus created an unforgettable ritualistic, sacred spectacle on the stage of Kaunas Drama Theatre. A film version of the production was made in 1990. The “Thrush” of that time seemed to invite audiences to turn away from “politics,” enter the realm of pure art, and immerse themselves in a flow of refined, beautiful images that brought together the aesthetics of Lithuanian folk art and traditional Eastern theatre.

The image of the peasant bard Strazdelis (Antanas Strazdas-Drazdauskas), shaped by the metaphor of wings, the bird-like surname of the poet and his distinctive personality, is transformed by director Jonas Vaitkus into the character of the Human-Bird. Strazdas’s original personality and works have inspired many Lithuanian artists to create outstanding works. Music lovers also know Vytautas Kernagis’s composition based on the same poem by Geda, “The Thrush.”

Bronius Kutavičius’s work encompasses a broad cultural context, revealing layers of nations’ history and prehistory buried in the depths of the ages and giving form to archetypes of mythic and religious consciousness. His harmonious, sometimes intricately constructed systems of sounds are always alive and full of emotional force. Kutavičius’s work overcame the barriers of mistrust and audience hostility toward contemporary music. The composer drew freely on a wide range of contemporary compositional techniques, but the greatest influence on his style came from the polyphonic, recurring vocal-part technique of the unique sutartinės songs found in northeastern Lithuania. This was a conscious “turn” toward paganism, which was also spiritually close to Geda’s work. Geda modernised Lithuanian poetry, while Kutavičius became a symbol of renewal in music. Their joint works are canonical landmarks of modern Lithuanian art and gave rise to a new phenomenon: pagan avant-gardism.

The project is funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture.