With the Lithuanian state stamp: opera soloists’ tours in Great Britain in 1948–1949

Abstract

In 1944, thousands of people fled Lithuania to escape the advancing Red Army, including many artists from the Kaunas State Opera. Founded in 1920, this Opera House played an important role during the interwar period. Most of the musicians found temporary refuge in Germany. In 1948, to mark Lithuania’s 30th anniversary of independence, the Lithuanian Union and the Baltic Council in the UK, with support from the Arts Council of Great Britain, invited four singers and an accompanist from Germany: Izabelė Motekaitienė, Alė Kalvaitytė, Stasys Baranauskas, Ipolitas Nauragis, and Vladas Jakubėnas. They were contracted to participate in the jubilee event and to visit Lithuanian communities in England, Scotland, and Wales. The concert programs featured Lithuanian songs and excerpts from classical operas. Some of the concerts were also open to English audiences. The soloists presented themselves as artists from the Kaunas State Theatre, emphasizing the continuity of independent Lithuania’s traditions in exile. Twenty-two concerts were held over two months. The audience praised the performers, but the British press was reserved in its coverage. The Lithuanian Union invited the same performers to tour Great Britain again in 1949 to mobilize their compatriots and achieve political goals (this time Antanina Dambrauskaitė replaced Izabelė Motekaitienė). Twenty-nine concerts took place, half of which were organized at the initiative of the Arts Council of Great Britain. This time, the British press paid more attention to the artists, and tickets sold out quickly. Lithuanian soloists in the UK sought work in their profession but faced challenges due to time constraints, financial limitations, and a lack of concrete offers. However, they effectively served as “singing ambassadors,” representing Lithuania as a cultured nation and advocating against the illegal incorporation of Lithuania into the USSR.