Birutė (opera)

Birutė is a two-act opera composed by Mikas Petrauskas based on the play by Gabrielius Landsbergis-Žemkalnis.

The plot is based on the medieval legend about the love between Birutė and Grand Duke of Lithuania Kęstutis recorded in the Lithuanian Chronicles.

Winrich von Kniprode, komtur of the Teutonic Order, wishes to marry Birutė, daughter of the ruler of Palanga.

In Act I, von Kniprode sends his envoys to persuade Birutė's father to agree to the marriage.

In Act II, as Birutė prepares to be initiated, an old vaidila (priest or prophet) makes a prophesy that Birutė is destined to become the mother of a giant who will defeat the Teutonic Order (veiled reference to her son Grand Duke Vytautas and the Battle of Grunwald).

He learns that the plan for her to become a vaidilutė is only a means to avoid the marriage to the Teutonic komtur, interrupts the initiation ceremony, and proposes to Birutė.

[3] Music numbers are traditional operatic (arias, ariosos)[2] or popular (polonaises, mazurkas) compositions that have little in common with the Lithuanian folk songs.

For songs by the choir of vaidilutės, Petrauskas attempted to create a sense of antiquity by using noble melody, asymmetric period structure, and mixolydian mode.

[1] There was also a play about Kęstutis by Adam Asnyk which was translated from Polish by Vincas Kudirka and performed by various Lithuanian societies.

[4] Gabrielius Landsbergis-Žemkalnis modified the plot of Valiūnas' song and wrote a play[5] which is characterized as a melodrama.

[2] The original cast included:[1] Birutė was staged again on 15 August 1909 in Vilnius to commemorate the 10th anniversary of America in the Bathhouse, the first public performance of a Lithuanian play in Lithuania.

[6] In the Russian Empire, the opera was performed on 17 July 1910 in Marijampolė to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald and in June 1911 in Riga.

It was held at the International Theatre in Chicago and an American symphony orchestra directed by Theodore Thomas was hired for the occasion.

[4] Scenography was created by Adomas Varnas, Petras Kalpokas, and Paulius Galaunė while costumes were imported from abroad.