Foreign Artists on the Stage of the State Theatre, Kaunas, Lithuania
Georgy Lapshin', Natalia Goncharova's, Konstantin Korovin', Ludolfs Liberts' works in Lithuanian theatre during 1920s and 1930s
Georgy Lapshin
There were a few famous Russian artists of the first half of the 20th century, who created set designs for the State Theatre, Kaunas, Lithuania. Among them was Georgy Lapshin (1885–1950), graduate of the Stroganov School who perfected his craft in Paris and eventually in 1924 permanently moved to this city.
In Kaunas he created sets and costumes for Ermann Wolf-Ferrari’s opera “Jewels of the Madonna” (1928), later also presented his work through opera productions in Paris and Barcelona, sets for Parisian cabaret music hall “The Folies Bergère” and Monte Carlo’s cabaret “Sesam”. G. Lapshin had a strong singing voice (tenor) and therefore participated in opera productions as a singer.
Natalia Goncharova
Natalia Goncharova (1881–1962) created decorative set designs for Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” (1935), offering unique interpretations of Russian folk motives. The artist was a representative of the Russian avant-garde art. She studied at Moscow’s School of Art, later – at the studio of artist Konstantin Korovin, and in 1909 began participating in theatrical projects and exhibitions of the Art World group, produced sets for Sergei Diaghilev’s “Russian Seasons” in Paris and Alexander Tairov’s Chamber Theatre in Moscow.
In 1915 she moved to France. It may be that she was recommended to the State Theatre, Kaunas, Lithuania by Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, who knew the artist back in Saint Petersburg and interceded for her when in 1914 the censors confiscated 22 paintings from her personal exhibition, claiming that they were mocking religion.
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov "THE TALE OF TSAR SALTAN". A scenery sketch. Prologue (1932) by Natalia GoncharovaLithuanian Theatre, Music and Cinema Museum
Konstantinas Korovinas
The sets and costumes for Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera “The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh” (1936) were created by Konstantin Korovin (1861–1939), graduate of Moscow’s School of Art and Russian Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg. He began creating for theatre at the end of the 19th century – productions with his sets and costumes were shown at the Bolshoi Theatre, Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg and “La Scala” in Milan. In 1923 he moved to Paris.
Ludolfs Liberts
Latvian Ludolfs Liberts (1895–1959) worked on a few productions in Kaunas. He attended private painting studies in Riga, later – Stroganov’s Art School in Moscow and the Art School of Kazan (in this city he also worked as a decorator of opera productions). ). In 1924–1937 he was the designer and scenographer with the Latvian National Opera, also creating sets and costumes in Helsinki, Malmö, Zagreb, Sofia.
The productions that he worked on in Kaunas – Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “Aida” (1927), Camille Saint-Saëns’ opera “Samson et Dalila” (1931), Piotr Tchaikovsky’s ballet “The Swan Lake” (1931) – are characteristically created in the spirit of Art Deco, displaying stylized motives, decorative elements and resonant colours.
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