Peculiarities and Limitations of Opera Criticism During the Soviet Era: the Story of One Review and the Outpouring of Responses it Provoked in 1978
Peculiarities and Limitations of Opera Criticism During the Soviet Era: the Story of One Review and the Outpouring of Responses it Provoked in 1978

Summary/Abstract: The article, which focuses on an unexpected outpouring of critical opinion in 1978, examines the activities of the opera company that functioned as part of the StateAcademic Opera and Ballet Theatre of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic in the1970s. Among other things, it looks at the idiosyncrasies of its management, the state ofopera criticism, its possibilities and limits. The treatment of art in Soviet Lithuania variedconsiderably from field to field, and state censorship enforced the strictest controlson literature and theatre, which led to the emergence of metaphorical theatre andAesopian language, which in turn resulted in changes not only in the style and contentof creative work, but also in the form of critical texts. The present research shows howthese issues were treated and appreciated by representatives of the music community,shaped by their dependence on, or independence of, the institution in question, theabsence or existence of a nomenklatura mentality, their professional approach andpersonal convictions. Nevertheless, the discussion had a significant impact on the furtherdevelopment of opera criticism in Lithuania.

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