Page 249 - 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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contested entertainment: discussions on operetta in belgrade ...
choice as a result of his deep insight into Slavic, especially Czech and Rus-
sian opera (Leoš Janáček, Modest Musorgski). Furthermore, he demanded
precise pronunciation and emphasis on the text, musicality of the melod-
ic line,13 as well as considerable dedication by the musicians. Petar Konjo-
vić’s opinions on such matters were also shared by music writers and crit-
ics in the interwar period.
Due to the uncompromised and continuous critique of operetta, it was
“expelled” (prognana)14 from the state theatre repertoire in the interwar pe-
riod. Hence, the minor role of operetta in the National Theatre in Belgrade
between the two World Wars was a result of a strong negative propaganda
during the first decades of the twentieth century. While eighteen operettas
were premiered on the stage of the National Theatre in Belgrade in the pe-
riod between 1882, when Davorin Jenko’s Vračara was staged, until World
War I, in the interwar period only four new operettas were included in the
repertoire, including the revival of Jenko’s work. Negative discussions and
numerous writings about operetta were still very much the order of the day
to “guard” the National Theatre from the threat of commercial entertain-
ment without any educational value.
Miloje Milojević, Stevan Hristić, Vojislav Vučković, and Milenko
Živkov ić, among others, all criticized operetta in strong terms, denying it
had any aesthetic value. According to Milojević, it was aimed exclusive-
ly at satisfying the tastes of a wide audience with colourful costumes and
scenery. Moreover, since it was seen as frivolous and even disgusting, it was
called “cultural weeds”.15 Stevan Hristić shared Milojević’s opinion about
operettas transferred from Vienna and Budapest to Belgrade, and their
negative influences on Yugoslav audiences. Similarly to Dragomir Janković
before World War I, he stated that while private theatres could include op-
erettas in their repertoires, the national theatre could not. Despite this, in
1925, when he was asked to give his opinion about a project of a private op-
13 Ibid., 38.
14 Nadežda Mosusova, “Srpska muzička scena (125 godina Naronog pozorišta),” in
Srpska muzička scena [The Serbian Music Stage], ed. Ana Matović et al. (Belgrade:
Muzikološki institute SANU, 1995), 15.
15 See Miloje Milojević, “‘Hofmanove priče’ od Žaka Ofenbaha,” Srpski književni
glasnik 4, no. 8 (1921): 625–6; Miloje Milojević, “‘U dolini’, muzička drama Euge-
na D’Albera,” Srpski književni glasnik 18, no. 7 (1926): 542–5; Miloje Milojević, “Pov-
odom gostovanja Osečke Operete u Beogradu,” Srpski književni glasnik 20, no. 3
(1927): 289.
247
choice as a result of his deep insight into Slavic, especially Czech and Rus-
sian opera (Leoš Janáček, Modest Musorgski). Furthermore, he demanded
precise pronunciation and emphasis on the text, musicality of the melod-
ic line,13 as well as considerable dedication by the musicians. Petar Konjo-
vić’s opinions on such matters were also shared by music writers and crit-
ics in the interwar period.
Due to the uncompromised and continuous critique of operetta, it was
“expelled” (prognana)14 from the state theatre repertoire in the interwar pe-
riod. Hence, the minor role of operetta in the National Theatre in Belgrade
between the two World Wars was a result of a strong negative propaganda
during the first decades of the twentieth century. While eighteen operettas
were premiered on the stage of the National Theatre in Belgrade in the pe-
riod between 1882, when Davorin Jenko’s Vračara was staged, until World
War I, in the interwar period only four new operettas were included in the
repertoire, including the revival of Jenko’s work. Negative discussions and
numerous writings about operetta were still very much the order of the day
to “guard” the National Theatre from the threat of commercial entertain-
ment without any educational value.
Miloje Milojević, Stevan Hristić, Vojislav Vučković, and Milenko
Živkov ić, among others, all criticized operetta in strong terms, denying it
had any aesthetic value. According to Milojević, it was aimed exclusive-
ly at satisfying the tastes of a wide audience with colourful costumes and
scenery. Moreover, since it was seen as frivolous and even disgusting, it was
called “cultural weeds”.15 Stevan Hristić shared Milojević’s opinion about
operettas transferred from Vienna and Budapest to Belgrade, and their
negative influences on Yugoslav audiences. Similarly to Dragomir Janković
before World War I, he stated that while private theatres could include op-
erettas in their repertoires, the national theatre could not. Despite this, in
1925, when he was asked to give his opinion about a project of a private op-
13 Ibid., 38.
14 Nadežda Mosusova, “Srpska muzička scena (125 godina Naronog pozorišta),” in
Srpska muzička scena [The Serbian Music Stage], ed. Ana Matović et al. (Belgrade:
Muzikološki institute SANU, 1995), 15.
15 See Miloje Milojević, “‘Hofmanove priče’ od Žaka Ofenbaha,” Srpski književni
glasnik 4, no. 8 (1921): 625–6; Miloje Milojević, “‘U dolini’, muzička drama Euge-
na D’Albera,” Srpski književni glasnik 18, no. 7 (1926): 542–5; Miloje Milojević, “Pov-
odom gostovanja Osečke Operete u Beogradu,” Srpski književni glasnik 20, no. 3
(1927): 289.
247
