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This was confirmed by K. Antanėlis’ friend and fellow composer, pianist and jazz teacher Arūnas Navakas on BNS on Tuesday.
K. Antanėlis composed the famous rock opera “Love and Death in Verona” based on William Shakespeare’s drama “Romeo and Juliet” (libretto by Sigitas Geda), together with A. Navakas he composed the rock opera “Peras Giuntas”, the oratorio “Four Rain Countries” for soloists, choir and orchestra, four song cycles according to Bernardas Brazdžionis.
He was also the first in Europe to present Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rock opera “Jesus Christ the Superstar.”
The creative legacy of K. Antanėlis also consists of some 200 songs and some 80 instrumental works. He was also the author of many of his lyrics.
A rebellious, active and creative person
Colleagues remember composer Kęstutis Antanėlis as a rebellious, active and highly creative person and one of the first to introduce the genres of blues and rock in Lithuania.
Composer Laimis Vilkončius BNS recalled the first encounters with K. Antanėlis when he was still studying in Vilnius Salomėja Nėris Gymnasium, where, according to him, K. Antanėlis also made his first electric guitar, he learned to play piano, guitar and drums.
“He was an active person, Protestant, fighter and calm all the time. He was very interested in music, like all of us in Salomeika, we were crazy about the music of the Beatles.” Salomeika “was equipped with workshops for work lessons, punchers of all kinds and chimney cuts. Apparently, Kęstas agreed with the teacher to let him make an electric guitar because in those days there was no other way to get it. He already knew how to play acoustic guitar, he already played the piano, in fact, not I know where. He learned to play percussion, “said L. Vilkončius.
According to him, K. Antanėlis lost a finger on his right hand while making his first guitar, but this did not prevent him later not only creating, but also after school and after studies to actively perform with his band in restaurants. From the capital.
“We were all amazed at how Kęstas could play with four fingers of his right hand. He didn’t play technical things, but he really felt the swing,” said L. Vilkončius.
“Yes, and rock, but I’d say it contributed even more to bringing the blues. He played in restaurants. There was an Amber restaurant across from the train station, where the hotel now stands. It was a modern restaurant for foreigners to control better. In that restaurant Kęstas played with his band, and at the same time I was the artistic director of the Vilnius pop orchestras association, with the assignment we passed through restaurants and cafes twice a year (…), we usually give Kęstas the First of all because they played so well, “He said.
L. Vilkončius says that in addition to Western music, which was a common form of protest against the Soviet regime at the time, K. Antanėlis rebelled in other ways, although he did not openly agitate against the occupation regime.
“In each class, either the coat of arms of the LSSR or a portrait of Lenin always hung on the wall above the head of the teacher. It was he who hung it up instead of hanging a picture of Smetona or a tricolor. Then he was preparing to leave him from school, but then his mother came, defended him, discouraged him from raising him alone, it is very difficult for her, he left him, ”said L. Vilkončius.
The composer says that K. Antanėlis, a year younger than him, has already assembled an ensemble at school, to which he and other choristers from Ąžuoliukas were invited to sing. Beatles songs were generally sung during breaks and English reinforced that is taught in school allows them to understand texts. The group also performed on one of the school holidays.
“I think he brought a kind of American country style song. We in five maybe – he himself, with the guitar, I sang that song, looking for a plaid shirt at home, we got under the neck with my mother’s scarf tied to look like jeans. I liked it, I thought Kęstas would continue to work with us, but it was a one-time thing, ”he said.
After graduating from school in 1969, in 1971 K. Antanėlis, while studying at the then Vilnius Institute of Civil Engineering (now Vilnius Gediminas Technical University), had already staged Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rock opera “Jesus Christ Superstar “.
“It was deep Soviet times, I went to see it too. There was such an accessory: it seems that I hung myself somewhere on the wall hooked to the heating pipe, because there was no place for the apple to fall, ”recalls L. Vilkončius.
Much later, after the premiere of the rock opera “Love and Death in Verona”, directed by the then famous Eimuntas Nekrošius, L. Vilkončius together with the actors recorded a double vinyl record of this rock opera, and after a while K. Antanėlis invited him to create a group.
“I was always surprised by his production capacity, how he was able to popularize his work. After all, Verona was built in America and won an award in Germany (…). His Verona was also displayed on the Hill of Three Crosses during one of the festivals of Life. I also think about how he managed to confuse Saulius Sondeckis with the chamber orchestra – there is such a work “Four Rain Countries” according to Sigitas Gedas – it is no longer rock, music with so much claim to the modern classic “, said L. Vilkončius.
The composer says that he and other colleagues helped K. Antanėlis with the scores, for example the score “Four Countries of Rain” was written by composer Arūnas Navakas, who also co-wrote another rock opera “Peras Giuntas” with K. Antanėlis .
K. Smoriginas: K. Antanėlis is hooked, but he’s creative
Actor, composer and performer Kostas Smoriginas, who created the role of Romeo in K. Antanėlis’s rock opera “Love and Death in Verona”, remembers K. Antanėlis as a demanding and even mischievous person, but very creative.
“It was an interesting period as a man, he was very talented, he was full of ideas. That rock opera was born unexpectedly, for half a year we rehearsed a lot with him: he accompanied, sang parts, his arias. All the actors said the same thing: we worked with Kęstutis for a long time, only then did the rehearsals on stage with Nekrošius begin. But we met and personally, of course, we were in the world, ”said K. Smorigin.
He says he also remembers the premiere of “Jesus Christ Superstar” at the then Lithuanian State Conservatory (now Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater), where actor Vidas Petkevičius played the role of Jesus.
“It was in the greenhouse, in a small room, with all the staff. He was very brave, because there was security nearby. It was necessary to get around that, to clarify what is being done here. And Kęstas was generally talented in all matters: he drew well, he was a skilled architect. I remember him as a very creative person, full of ideas. Of course, he was also so hooked that he could find you in another world, he could get what he wanted from you by various means, ”recalled K. Smorigin.
K. Antanėlis: we deceived them
Speaking at a concert nearly two decades ago about the staging of the “Super Star of Jesus Christ,” K. Antanėlis himself said that security had not been able to prevent the prime minister from pulling a single stunt.
“We knew very well that we were going to pack up, we announced that the concert would be at eight, we started that sixth and we started the sixth. The “Budeles” gathered seven or eight to prevent that event from happening. But since there were so many people, and at that time it was not yet fashionable to shoot and hit with sticks, they could not pass, the opera was already halfway there. In a word, we have them covered, ”said K. Antanėlis in the recording of the concert published by LRT.
K. Antanėlis died at the age of 69. President Gitanas Nausėda expressed his condolences for the loss of the composer.
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