“The Soviet occupation wiped us off the map for 50 years”

Lithuanian culture is in the spotlight in France until December. The opportunity to chat with international pianist Mūza Rubackytė.

Lithuania has a population of just under 3 million. It is a Baltic state. We are taking advantage of the promotion of Lithuanian culture in France to discover this country, thanks to the pianist The Rubackytė.

franceinfo: You claim to be a pagan country in Lithuania. What does that mean?

Mūza Rubackytė: That’s right, it’s our character, because we were the last pagan country in Europe since we were conquered in the 13th century. By pagan, I mean a worship of nature, the connection with its roots that nourish us until now. Hence the choral singing, painting, Lithuanian cinema and the 100 years of the Song Festival that we celebrated this year with thousands of people for a week, parading in the streets, in our country.

And through your work, you are the ambassador of Lithuania?

It could not be otherwise because I experienced the fate of my country, like most of my compatriots. We suffered from the Soviet occupation. I was deprived of my passport for 7 years, in the most important period of my career. Yes, today, we defend the Lithuanian colors, wherever we are.

What does being Lithuanian mean to you?

It is first of all belonging to its history. When I arrived in Paris, I immediately met my compatriots from the diaspora, and I asked them for books on the history of my country, books that I had never had access to during the Soviet occupation. I needed to know my roots, those of the Lithuanian state, which was a kingdom, which belonged to Europe. In the 16th century, our university was one of the most important in Europe. This occupation completely wiped us off the map for 50 years. But we were about to leave, ready to go, only we were waiting for the starting signal… And there we come out of the shadows. It is overwhelming, for us, to have this Season here in France.

Why this particular emotion in you?

Because in the 1990s, I had the pleasure of preparing 5 two-hour programmes on Lithuania and Lithuanian culture. Each programme began with the Lithuanian anthem: people were crying, it was like finding one’s own identity again. We have always kept the ancestral memory of our history, our culture, our roots. I think we are doing better than the other Baltic countries in integrating back into Europe.

I have in my hands a record of you playing Leopold Godowsky. Who was he?

In the past, Vilnius was called the Jerusalem of the North, because it had a huge Jewish elite population there. Godowsky was one of those brilliant Jews, a great pianist, a great composer who was born in Vilnius, who traveled the world, who ended his days in New York. And he was not the only Lithuanian national to emigrate: Jascha Heifetz, the Chagall family, the Gershwin family, the family of Aaron Copland or Bob Dylan, there were many.

Editor’s note: Pianist Mūza Rubackytė is on tour in France until November 13. Saturday, September 14 in Paris, at the Orangerie des Serres d’Auteuil, Sunday, September 15 in Chassignolles in Berry and so on. A tour between her recital and the film dedicated to her: Mūza, muse of the piano.