Although in her Russian translation of PF Vera Nabokov
renders "theatrical ululations" as teatral'nye zavyvaniya, there is a
semantically closer word: ulyulyukanie. It comes from ulyulyukat'
(to halloo; to whoop, in mockery). According to Dahl, ulyulyukat'
means "to hunt superior type of game (krasnyi* zver'): a fox, a wolf, a
bear, to cry ulyulyu!" (One cries "atu!" when hunting a hare
and "us'!" when hunting a hog.) Dahl also glosses
ulyulya, dialectal word for sova ("owl") rhyming
with pilyulya ("pill"). Strange enough, he does not
mention Latin ulula deriving ulyulya from German
Eule (with a question mark, though).
In Dahl's dictionary ulyulyukat' is preceded by
ulyulyukivat', "to lull a child to sleep" (or "to death"). Cf.
German einlullen.
There is ulyulyukanie in VN's Camera Obscura
and Solus Rex. Here is a quote from the latter: Напротив, личность самоотверженного доктора не только не была
оценена по достоинству, но возбуждала злорадное улюлюкание (к
сожалению, подхваченное бульварной печатью), ибо его положение понималось
народом как жалкая исполнительность продажного умника. (...the
personality of sublime Dr. Onze not only failed to be recognized but
provoked happy hoots of malice...)
*in modern Russian krasnyi means "red" but
formerly meant "fair, beautiful"
Alexey Sklyarenko