Page 214 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2021. Opereta med obema svetovnima vojnama ▪︎ Operetta between the Two World Wars. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 5
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opereta med obema svetovnima vojnama
to be used for this in February 1919 when Vavro Šrobár, authorised to gov-
ern Slovakia, moved there. Bratislava officially became part of Czechoslo-
vakia after the Treaty of Versailles on 28 June 1919. Besides its favourable lo-
cation, one of the main reasons for choosing it as the capital was that there
were enough buildings where the newly emerging institutions could move
in. Talks about establishing a representative national theatre began already
in May 1918, at the celebrations of the 50th jubilee of laying the foundation
stone of the National Theatre in Prague, in which a Slovak delegation, head-
ed by the poet Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav, also participated. The Slovak
National Theatre was primarily established due to the will of Slovak politi-
cians rather than as a manifestation of some inner artistic need.
Although Bratislava was the capital of Slovakia, the proportion of
Slovaks in the city’s population was minimal. From the times of the Aus-
tro-Hungarian Empire, the population had been mainly Hungarian and
German, and they had never imagined their city would once become part
of Czechoslovakia.2 Slovaks were gradually arriving in Bratislava for work
from other parts of the country, with the size of the population of the new
state also increased by the arrival of Czechs. Therefore, the main politi-
cal aim was to eliminate the German and Hungarian languages and re-
place them with Slovak and its culture. This, however, posed a major prob-
lem, since the Slovak National Theatre was neither Slovak nor national in
its beginnings. Its operations were not managed by the state, but by a pri-
vate company (a joint venture) called Družstvo Slovenského národného di
vadla [Cooperative of the Slovak National Theatre], established in 1919 and
granted a concession by the Ministry of Education and National Enlight-
enment in Prague.3
Slovak amateur theatre, no matter how developed and branched out it
was territorially, could not become the basis of a professional theatre. There-
fore, the Cooperative decided to engage and commission Východočeská di
vadelní společnost [the South Czech Theatre Company] from Pardubice,
which was headed by director Bedřich Jeřábek and consisted of three en-
sembles: drama, opera, and operetta.4 In the Municipal Theatre in Brati-
slava, this company was to alternate with Hungarian and German thea-
2 Zuzana Francová, “Obyvatelia – etnická, sociálna a konfesijná skladba,” Bratislava:
(Ročenka Mestského múzea), no. 10 (1998): 17–38.
3 František Bokes, “Družstvo Slovenského národného divadla,” Slovenské divadlo 56,
no. 2 (2008): 236–58.
4 Ladislav Lajcha, Dokumenty SND 1 (1920–1938). Zápas o zmysel a podobu SND, vol.
1 (Bratislava: Divadelný ústav, 2000), 7–25.
212
to be used for this in February 1919 when Vavro Šrobár, authorised to gov-
ern Slovakia, moved there. Bratislava officially became part of Czechoslo-
vakia after the Treaty of Versailles on 28 June 1919. Besides its favourable lo-
cation, one of the main reasons for choosing it as the capital was that there
were enough buildings where the newly emerging institutions could move
in. Talks about establishing a representative national theatre began already
in May 1918, at the celebrations of the 50th jubilee of laying the foundation
stone of the National Theatre in Prague, in which a Slovak delegation, head-
ed by the poet Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav, also participated. The Slovak
National Theatre was primarily established due to the will of Slovak politi-
cians rather than as a manifestation of some inner artistic need.
Although Bratislava was the capital of Slovakia, the proportion of
Slovaks in the city’s population was minimal. From the times of the Aus-
tro-Hungarian Empire, the population had been mainly Hungarian and
German, and they had never imagined their city would once become part
of Czechoslovakia.2 Slovaks were gradually arriving in Bratislava for work
from other parts of the country, with the size of the population of the new
state also increased by the arrival of Czechs. Therefore, the main politi-
cal aim was to eliminate the German and Hungarian languages and re-
place them with Slovak and its culture. This, however, posed a major prob-
lem, since the Slovak National Theatre was neither Slovak nor national in
its beginnings. Its operations were not managed by the state, but by a pri-
vate company (a joint venture) called Družstvo Slovenského národného di
vadla [Cooperative of the Slovak National Theatre], established in 1919 and
granted a concession by the Ministry of Education and National Enlight-
enment in Prague.3
Slovak amateur theatre, no matter how developed and branched out it
was territorially, could not become the basis of a professional theatre. There-
fore, the Cooperative decided to engage and commission Východočeská di
vadelní společnost [the South Czech Theatre Company] from Pardubice,
which was headed by director Bedřich Jeřábek and consisted of three en-
sembles: drama, opera, and operetta.4 In the Municipal Theatre in Brati-
slava, this company was to alternate with Hungarian and German thea-
2 Zuzana Francová, “Obyvatelia – etnická, sociálna a konfesijná skladba,” Bratislava:
(Ročenka Mestského múzea), no. 10 (1998): 17–38.
3 František Bokes, “Družstvo Slovenského národného divadla,” Slovenské divadlo 56,
no. 2 (2008): 236–58.
4 Ladislav Lajcha, Dokumenty SND 1 (1920–1938). Zápas o zmysel a podobu SND, vol.
1 (Bratislava: Divadelný ústav, 2000), 7–25.
212
