Page 217 - 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
P. 217
oper ettas staged by the slovak national theatr e dur ing the years 1920–1938
From Pressburg to Bratislava and J. Odcházel’s From Bratislava to Shang
hai, also featured in the repertoire.
The shows were always staged with high artistic standards, which fol-
lowed from Nedbal’s circumspection in choosing the conductors and sing-
ers. In choreography and direction, the ballet master Achille Viscusi also
participated in staging operettas.11 Despite all these strengths, however, no
more than three operetta premieres, and a maximum of 15 repeats, took
place a year under Nedbal’s directorship till 1930 (with a short break in 1928–
1929). The situation changed in the last year of Nedbal’s activities, when a
second stage, a so-called Folk Theatre was opened, which was to stage not
only drama but operettas, too. Besides two premieres in the main building
of the theatre, another three operettas were staged in the Folk Theatre, and
this was the highest number under Nedbal’s directorship of the Slovak Na-
tional Theatre. Throughout his time in the theatre, Nedbal struggled with
financial difficulties and did not manage to fully achieve the Slovakisation
of the theatre, either. For this reason, he was constantly under attack. Al-
though he did not do anything wrong as a manager and did not seek any
wrongful personal gain (as confirmed by a financial audit), he could not
put up with the pressure and committed suicide on Christmas Eve of 1930.
He was succeeded by an entrepreneur, Antonín Drašar, who took
over the complete management of the Slovak National Theatre based on
a concession granted in 1931.12 Over time, the annual programmes in the
municip al theatre building settled definitively at a 10:1:1 ratio in favour of
the Slovaks against the German and Hungarian minorities. In terms of
the number of premieres and repeats, the time of Drašar’s activities was
the golden age of the operetta in the interwar period. Contrary to Ned-
bal, Drašar had a strong preference for operettas, which could also be seen
in his previous activities in Národní divadlo moravskoslezské [the Nation-
al Moravian-Silesian Theatre] in Ostrava, Divadlo sdružených měst výcho
dočeských [the Theatre of Associated East Czech Cities] in Kladno, and
České divadlo [the Czech Theatre] in Olomouc. Drašar’s inclination to the
operetta was aptly characterised by a Czech singer and actor, Oldřich Nový,
who had worked under him in Ostrava: “Drašar was known all over the em
pire for being obsessed with operetta.”13
11 Elena Martišová-Blahová, Slovenské národné divadlo 1920–1995 (fakty – osobnosti –
udalosti) (Bratislava: Národné divadelné centrum, 1996), 44.
12 Lajcha, Dokumenty SND 1 (1920–1938), 102–58.
13 Ladislav Tunys, Jen pro ten dnešní den. V hlavní roli Oldřich Nový (Praha: Ametyst,
2000), 38–9.
215
From Pressburg to Bratislava and J. Odcházel’s From Bratislava to Shang
hai, also featured in the repertoire.
The shows were always staged with high artistic standards, which fol-
lowed from Nedbal’s circumspection in choosing the conductors and sing-
ers. In choreography and direction, the ballet master Achille Viscusi also
participated in staging operettas.11 Despite all these strengths, however, no
more than three operetta premieres, and a maximum of 15 repeats, took
place a year under Nedbal’s directorship till 1930 (with a short break in 1928–
1929). The situation changed in the last year of Nedbal’s activities, when a
second stage, a so-called Folk Theatre was opened, which was to stage not
only drama but operettas, too. Besides two premieres in the main building
of the theatre, another three operettas were staged in the Folk Theatre, and
this was the highest number under Nedbal’s directorship of the Slovak Na-
tional Theatre. Throughout his time in the theatre, Nedbal struggled with
financial difficulties and did not manage to fully achieve the Slovakisation
of the theatre, either. For this reason, he was constantly under attack. Al-
though he did not do anything wrong as a manager and did not seek any
wrongful personal gain (as confirmed by a financial audit), he could not
put up with the pressure and committed suicide on Christmas Eve of 1930.
He was succeeded by an entrepreneur, Antonín Drašar, who took
over the complete management of the Slovak National Theatre based on
a concession granted in 1931.12 Over time, the annual programmes in the
municip al theatre building settled definitively at a 10:1:1 ratio in favour of
the Slovaks against the German and Hungarian minorities. In terms of
the number of premieres and repeats, the time of Drašar’s activities was
the golden age of the operetta in the interwar period. Contrary to Ned-
bal, Drašar had a strong preference for operettas, which could also be seen
in his previous activities in Národní divadlo moravskoslezské [the Nation-
al Moravian-Silesian Theatre] in Ostrava, Divadlo sdružených měst výcho
dočeských [the Theatre of Associated East Czech Cities] in Kladno, and
České divadlo [the Czech Theatre] in Olomouc. Drašar’s inclination to the
operetta was aptly characterised by a Czech singer and actor, Oldřich Nový,
who had worked under him in Ostrava: “Drašar was known all over the em
pire for being obsessed with operetta.”13
11 Elena Martišová-Blahová, Slovenské národné divadlo 1920–1995 (fakty – osobnosti –
udalosti) (Bratislava: Národné divadelné centrum, 1996), 44.
12 Lajcha, Dokumenty SND 1 (1920–1938), 102–58.
13 Ladislav Tunys, Jen pro ten dnešní den. V hlavní roli Oldřich Nový (Praha: Ametyst,
2000), 38–9.
215
