Sound

In brief: V. Gerulaitis' book Virgilijus Noreika, "And wherever I'd go..." (Virgilijus Noreika: „Ir kur benueičiau...“ 2015, Vilnius: Tyto alba) appeared last year, in 2015, but the silence in the public space (without thinking that several messages and V. Noreika’s biography summaries - as if repeating the text of the book, which are neither reviews, nor critical articles - are not the needed, the right and enough resonance) simply pushes to take this non-traditional monograph and speak about this work that is very important not only to Lithuanian music but also to the whole culture.

Instead of introduction musicologist admits, "The work was challenging from the very beginning. Yes, on the agreed time I would come to the cozy apartment in Antakalnis carrying a little voice recorder with me. I always had pre-prepared questions. Hot coffee and all kinds of sweets would be waiting for me on the table, but something was missing... And over the time it was felt more strongly. Until one day, in the hallway, I noticed new slippers bought specifically for me. Since then things took a new turn."

The close relationship between the author of the book and the personality he writes about is one of the reasons why this creative biography monograph is truly unorthodox.

Several fragments of the book should be mentioned to rouse the desire to open this rich publication on the global artist of Lithuanian opera, world classics and vocal music in general; an interpreter and teacher continuing the traditions of Italian singing school. It turns out that V. Noreika is a fruit of unique vocal teachers' tree, who continues to raise smaller branches. But the singer himself started his career in music from cello, the instrument he disliked. He was much better at playing the trumpet.

One of the last chapters of the monograph – “From exile to Freedom” - features one of the biggest outrages in V. Noreika's life as well as in the life of Lithuanian music and culture - after Lithuania regained independence V. Noreika was fired from the duties of the artistic director of the Opera and Ballet Theatre and was left without work in the theatre. In addition to that, he was teaching at the Music Academy and that constitutes as work, thus, the government, in accordance with the idiotic law, took away his pension. "The biggest and the most severe blow was an order that prevented the artist from singing in his own theatre, to which he had given thirty four years, the one he made world-famous and turned into one of the best theatres in the former USSR," writes V. Gerulaitis in his book.

V. Gerulaitis - a teacher - reaches every reader with his captivating narrative. With the aesthetics of his language - stylistic variation, rich vocabulary - he unlocks the conscious and the subconscious, the realm of the thought and provides the pleasure of reading, the delight; he turns the writing and reading practices into conversation providing the quintessence of art experience.