Page 237 - 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. 237
oper etta in sar ajevo between the two wor ld wars
and Puccini’s Madame Butterfly (11 April 1929) were performed on the stage
of the Sarajevo theatre.43 Still, regardless of the relative success of such at-
tempts, the staging of operas with local forces was premature, since Saraje-
vo did not have a sufficient number of high-quality singers who could per-
form even a lighter opera repertoire, nor were theatre ensembles able to
meet the demands of opera performances.
Early in the 1929/1930 season, the first operetta by a local composer
was staged. This work by Alfred Pordes, Mis Ganimed, in three acts, was
based on a text by Fred Angermayer (1889–1951), and premiered on 19 Oc-
tober 1929. Critics received the work favourably, although noting that with
a better libretto the musical part would have been more complete, assess-
ing the libretto, based on the history of England in the early 17th century as
trivial and weak.44
In the 1930/1931 season, the theatre again engaged a choir consisting
of 16 members and a smaller ballet ensemble (six members of the ballet
chorus and three ballet principals and head of ballet).45 However, only a
few months after its formation, the ballet ensemble was disbanded once
again.46 The newly appointed manager, Milutin Janjušević (1896–1941) for-
mally ended the ballet as an independent artistic unit on 1 March 1931. In
his opinion, the ballet ensemble performed rarely and without artistic re-
sults, and therefore
it is generally redundant for a purely dramatic theatre, and its en
gagement as an independent artistic unit could not be justified even
if it had a purely artistic aspiration, instead of being involved in or
dinary cabaret-variety-show productions.47
43 Performers included members of the Croatian Singing Choir Trebević from Sarajevo,
aided by guest opera singers and director Aleksandar Vereščagin (1885–1965). En-
couraged by the success of this opera among both audience and critics, Pordes set to
rehearse Puccini’s Madame Butterfly; however, Madame Butterfly did not repeat the
success of the first opera. Ibid., 325–7; Lešić, Sarajevsko pozorište između dva rata,
vol. 2, 326–7.
44 Lešić, Sarajevsko pozorište između dva rata, vol. 2, 26.
45 Ibid., 50.
46 In the period between the two world wars, ballet as an independent unit of Nation-
al Theatre did not exist. Dance numbers in operettas and pieces with singing were
left to actors, rather than professional ballet artists. Jolanda Đačić and Lidija Mans-
vjetova are referred to as heads and first choreographers. (Josip Lešić, “Balet Narod-
nog pozorišta u Sarajevu,” in Narodno pozorište Sarajevo 1921–1971, ed. Josip Lešić
(Sarajevo: Narodno pozorište, 1971), 18–9).
47 Lešić, Sarajevsko pozorište između dva rata, vol. 1, 50–1.
235
and Puccini’s Madame Butterfly (11 April 1929) were performed on the stage
of the Sarajevo theatre.43 Still, regardless of the relative success of such at-
tempts, the staging of operas with local forces was premature, since Saraje-
vo did not have a sufficient number of high-quality singers who could per-
form even a lighter opera repertoire, nor were theatre ensembles able to
meet the demands of opera performances.
Early in the 1929/1930 season, the first operetta by a local composer
was staged. This work by Alfred Pordes, Mis Ganimed, in three acts, was
based on a text by Fred Angermayer (1889–1951), and premiered on 19 Oc-
tober 1929. Critics received the work favourably, although noting that with
a better libretto the musical part would have been more complete, assess-
ing the libretto, based on the history of England in the early 17th century as
trivial and weak.44
In the 1930/1931 season, the theatre again engaged a choir consisting
of 16 members and a smaller ballet ensemble (six members of the ballet
chorus and three ballet principals and head of ballet).45 However, only a
few months after its formation, the ballet ensemble was disbanded once
again.46 The newly appointed manager, Milutin Janjušević (1896–1941) for-
mally ended the ballet as an independent artistic unit on 1 March 1931. In
his opinion, the ballet ensemble performed rarely and without artistic re-
sults, and therefore
it is generally redundant for a purely dramatic theatre, and its en
gagement as an independent artistic unit could not be justified even
if it had a purely artistic aspiration, instead of being involved in or
dinary cabaret-variety-show productions.47
43 Performers included members of the Croatian Singing Choir Trebević from Sarajevo,
aided by guest opera singers and director Aleksandar Vereščagin (1885–1965). En-
couraged by the success of this opera among both audience and critics, Pordes set to
rehearse Puccini’s Madame Butterfly; however, Madame Butterfly did not repeat the
success of the first opera. Ibid., 325–7; Lešić, Sarajevsko pozorište između dva rata,
vol. 2, 326–7.
44 Lešić, Sarajevsko pozorište između dva rata, vol. 2, 26.
45 Ibid., 50.
46 In the period between the two world wars, ballet as an independent unit of Nation-
al Theatre did not exist. Dance numbers in operettas and pieces with singing were
left to actors, rather than professional ballet artists. Jolanda Đačić and Lidija Mans-
vjetova are referred to as heads and first choreographers. (Josip Lešić, “Balet Narod-
nog pozorišta u Sarajevu,” in Narodno pozorište Sarajevo 1921–1971, ed. Josip Lešić
(Sarajevo: Narodno pozorište, 1971), 18–9).
47 Lešić, Sarajevsko pozorište između dva rata, vol. 1, 50–1.
235
