14th Festival 2004

Fringe programme


Samstag 13. Nov. // 14.00 – ca. 16.30 Uhr
Eintritt frei
Schauspielhaus / Horch und Guck

M. K. Čiurlionis

Zwei Filme über den litauischen Komponisten und Maler

Deutschlandpremieren

Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1875-1911)

Einführung und Gespräch Rasa Andriusyte-Zukiene, Universität Kaunas
Moderation Claas Danielsen, Direktor Internationales Leipziger Festival für Dokumentar- und Animationsfilm



Teil I: 14.00 – 15.00 Uhr

»Die Welt – eine große Sinfonie«
(»Pasauli Vaizduojuos Kaip Didele Simfonija«)

Leben und Werk von M. K. Čiurlionis
Dokumentarfilm von Robertas Verba

1975 // Farbe // Litauisch mit englischen Untertiteln // 50 Minuten



Teil II: 15.00 – ca. 16.30 Uhr

»Tierkreiszeichen« (»Zodiakas«)

Film von Jonas Vaitkus

Darsteller: Maja Plissetzkaja, Grigorij Gladij, Pr. Piaulokos

1985 // 1991 Erstaufführung der ungekürzten Fassung
Farbe // Litauisch mit englischen Untertiteln // 70 Minuten


Right up to the present day, Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1875-1911) has had a significant influence on both music and painting in Lithuania. He produced around 200 compositions and 300 paintings. During his lifetime he was more successful as a musician than as a painter, leaving behind Lithuania's first symphonies and chamber music, in a style similar to that of Debussy and Rachmaninov.

Today, his style of painting is so unique that it has to be given the same status as the greatest artists of his time. But to see his pictures you have to travel to Kaunas, far from the European metropolises. These pieces were also painted on such fine paper, that they are rarely lent out. The themes of the paintings are based on Lithuanian mysticism, nature and culture. Čiurlionis consciously kept to musical phrasing and created picture cycles such as the triptych »Summer« (1907), the »Pyramid Sonata« (1909) and the 12-part cycle »Signs of the Zodiac« (1906).

»Signs of the Zodiac« is the title of a film about Čiurlionis by Jonas Vaitkus, in which Maja Plissetzkaja – one of the best prima ballerinas of the 20th century – plays the leading role. In 1985 she was finally successful at pushing for the film to be allowed to show, after several bans, changes and cuts. During the period before 1991, when Lithuania was part of the Soviet Union, the symbolism of Čiurlionis' work was significantly hushed. »Signs of the Zodiac«, a documentary film, is presented as an insight into the life and work of Čiurlionis.


Čiurlionis in Leipzig

From October 1901 to July 1902, Čiurlionis studied composition, instrumentation and counterpoint at the Leipzig Music Conservatoire. He also attended university lectures on aesthetics, history and philosophy, as well as going to concerts at the Gewandhaus and in the theatre, and visiting the museum and works in the Peters publishing house library. With a diploma from the Leipzig Conservatoire, he returned to Warsaw.