Dialogue about love – Vika and Imants Kalniņš’s song “Blue Bird” / Article

“The path of the song. Im.Ka ”

In anticipation of the 80th anniversary of composer Imants Kalniņš, LTV offers stories for eleven favorite songs of the composer. Memories are shared, significant events and legends are revealed by the composer’s family, friends and like-minded people.

–
–

Twin duo

The song was made for the Liepaja Theater performance “Prince and the Beggar Boy”, which was staged by the theatre’s chief director Andrejs Migla in the theater and in the city, which had already become the center of Latvian rock music. The song from the performance was included in the repertoire of Austrasbērnu, but when Krists and Rēzija grew up, it was taught to them by the godmother Lienīte – kindergarten teacher Liene Lūse, who from 20 1970 taught to sing on LTV for a group of children, which also included Rēzija and Krists Kalniņi.

“I remember the recordings on television well,” Krists begins the story, “I remember the sound director Jānis Blūms and the aunt Lienīte, I remember that I always lacked breath when singing” Blue Bird “!”

“You didn’t miss it, I missed it,” Rezia argues, “I couldn’t sing -” brother, dear brother “- in one breath! You were perfect! ”

A song as a family heritage

Asked when both realized that the parents were talented and well-known people in the community, they both answered that they did not realize it themselves, but the society around them was aware of it, and it created a feeling that everything should be done well, sung. Rēzija remembers that the biggest days of happiness were when her mother ended the season in the theater and everyone went to Vecpiebalga, where Imants lived at that time.

“We sang all the way to Vecpiebalga, it was always so nice, and the feeling that all summer long with games and joys. Thanks to Vik, Dad’s brother, we played Indians, but we had to play the piano for two hours every day, “says Rēzija,

“Christ even once allowed the bees to burn their hands so they didn’t have to play the piano! Had to play with one hand… ”

Rēzija and Krists grew up, so did the younger brother Marts Kristiāns, and he also sang “Blue Bird” in Imantdays, and even later it was sung by Krista Kalniņš’s son Dāvids.

“When David or Jacob sings this song, I have a feeling – paga, that’s my song,”

says Christ, “that feeling is very special, but in fact my sons are singing better than me!”

“Blue Bird” is a song sung by many soloists and actors in the duo. The LTV archive contains recordings by Igo, Zane Gudra, Intars Busulis, Aleksandras Špicberga, Dita Lūriņa, Mārtiņš Egliens.

The true and real “folk song”

Actor Artūrs Skrastiņš remembers that this is his first encounter with Imants Kalniņš’s music, as in a distant dream a scene with a children’s day house, a black and white TV screen flashes in his mind and someone sings “Blue Bird”.

Mark Twain’s popular story “The Prince and the Beggar Boy” has lived in the Latvian National Theater with a short break since 1983. The first production was the presentation of Edmund Freiberg’s diploma work, graduating from the directing course at the Latvian State Conservatory. Artūrs Skrastiņš also remembers this first version of the show, as he has seen several times, and it was at that time that he deliberately liked the song “Zilais putniņš”. He says: “There are such beautiful words in that song, the philosophy of that song is so true, so real.

Nothing in this life happens until you love, this dialogue between sister and brother is so true and beautiful!

I also have a sister and a brother and I have to be reminded that I have to love, dogs do not eat unless they are caressed … ”

The author of these words, Viks, thinks that the message is complete and there is nothing left for him to explain as an author, he just tells a beautiful story: “I have the famous Dikļi stage nearby, where Juris Neiken established the song festival tradition, I once went there with feet. Once, the students had come there on an excursion, ran around the stage, until the teacher invited them to sing a folk song on the old stage. It became interesting to me what would be sung then. And you can imagine – they sang “Blue Bird!”

–