Page 250 - 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. 250
opereta med obema svetovnima vojnama
eretta theatre in Belgrade, as proposed by Greta Kraus-Aranicki from Za-
greb, Hristić wrote a negative review.16
Certain music critics and writers made a distinction between so-called
“classical” and commercial operetta. Thus, Stevan Hristić and Vojislav
Vučković considered Jacque Offenbach’s works as acceptable because they
were almost “good and real” music. As the program booklets and posters
show, Offenbach’s operettas, among others, were promoted as “operas”, and
regarded as “almost art music.” Additionally, even one of the biggest critics
of operetta, Miloje Milojević, praised Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss as
well as its performance at the National Theatre in Belgrade in 1932.
Die Fledermaus, interwoven with waltzes and dance rhythms but
also with scenes of pure eighteenth-century buffo-style, deserves the
efforts of high-ranked singers for entertainment. For, finally, why
should we don’t laugh a little bit in our difficult life. […] If the di
alogues were shorter and maybe also the very nicely stylised and
well-coordinated ballet divertissement led by excellent Mrs. Kirsa
nova and with soloists Mrs. Vasiljeva and Mr. Žukovski, Belgrade
creation of Die Fledermaus would gain a livelier flow of action.
Miss Nuri-Hadžić revealed to us one more side of her golden tal
ent: the ability to present successfully in piquant roles, as is the role
of Adela.17
16 More about Hristić’s letter to the Ministry of Education see Ivana Vesić, Konstru
isanje srpske muzičke tradicije između dva svetska rata (Beograd: Muzikološki in-
stitute SANU, 2018). Croatian Jewish Greta Kraus-Aranicki was a popular operetta
and opera singer, as well as actress and the first female theatre director in the Cro-
atian National Theatre (HNK) in Zagreb. She gave numerous operetta performanc-
es in the theatre in Osijek. Cf. Snježana Banović, “Prva redateljica u zagrebačkome
Hrvatskome Narodnome kazalištu – glumica Greta Kraus Aranicki,” in Krležini
dani u Osijeku 2018: Redatelji i glumci hrvatskoga kazališta, vol. 2, ed. Ana Lederer
(Zagreb: HAZU, Osijek: HNK, Filozofski fakultet, 2019), 7–18.
17 “‘Slepi miš’, protkan valcerima i ritmovima igre, ali i scenama čistoga bufo-stila osam
naestog veka, zaslužuje da se za njega radi razonode, založe i pevači od ranga. Jer, naj
zad, zašto se ne bismo malo i smejali u ovom našem teškom životu. […] Da jedialog
kraći, pa možda i vrlo lepo stilizovan i uigran baletski divertisman sa izvrsnom gđom
Kirsanovom n čelu i odličnim solistima gđom Vasiljevom i g. Žukovskim beogradska
kreacija ‘Slepog miša’ bi dobila. Jer bi tok radnje bio življi. G-ca Nuri-Hadžić nam je
otkrila još jednu stranu svoga zltnog dara: sposobnost da se sa uspehom snađe I u pi
kantnim ulogama kao što je uloga Adele.” Miloje Milojević, “Johan Štraus i njego-
va opereta ‘Slepi miš’,” Politika, December 9, 1932, https://digitalna.nb.rs/wb/NBS/
novine/politika/1932/12/09.
248
eretta theatre in Belgrade, as proposed by Greta Kraus-Aranicki from Za-
greb, Hristić wrote a negative review.16
Certain music critics and writers made a distinction between so-called
“classical” and commercial operetta. Thus, Stevan Hristić and Vojislav
Vučković considered Jacque Offenbach’s works as acceptable because they
were almost “good and real” music. As the program booklets and posters
show, Offenbach’s operettas, among others, were promoted as “operas”, and
regarded as “almost art music.” Additionally, even one of the biggest critics
of operetta, Miloje Milojević, praised Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss as
well as its performance at the National Theatre in Belgrade in 1932.
Die Fledermaus, interwoven with waltzes and dance rhythms but
also with scenes of pure eighteenth-century buffo-style, deserves the
efforts of high-ranked singers for entertainment. For, finally, why
should we don’t laugh a little bit in our difficult life. […] If the di
alogues were shorter and maybe also the very nicely stylised and
well-coordinated ballet divertissement led by excellent Mrs. Kirsa
nova and with soloists Mrs. Vasiljeva and Mr. Žukovski, Belgrade
creation of Die Fledermaus would gain a livelier flow of action.
Miss Nuri-Hadžić revealed to us one more side of her golden tal
ent: the ability to present successfully in piquant roles, as is the role
of Adela.17
16 More about Hristić’s letter to the Ministry of Education see Ivana Vesić, Konstru
isanje srpske muzičke tradicije između dva svetska rata (Beograd: Muzikološki in-
stitute SANU, 2018). Croatian Jewish Greta Kraus-Aranicki was a popular operetta
and opera singer, as well as actress and the first female theatre director in the Cro-
atian National Theatre (HNK) in Zagreb. She gave numerous operetta performanc-
es in the theatre in Osijek. Cf. Snježana Banović, “Prva redateljica u zagrebačkome
Hrvatskome Narodnome kazalištu – glumica Greta Kraus Aranicki,” in Krležini
dani u Osijeku 2018: Redatelji i glumci hrvatskoga kazališta, vol. 2, ed. Ana Lederer
(Zagreb: HAZU, Osijek: HNK, Filozofski fakultet, 2019), 7–18.
17 “‘Slepi miš’, protkan valcerima i ritmovima igre, ali i scenama čistoga bufo-stila osam
naestog veka, zaslužuje da se za njega radi razonode, založe i pevači od ranga. Jer, naj
zad, zašto se ne bismo malo i smejali u ovom našem teškom životu. […] Da jedialog
kraći, pa možda i vrlo lepo stilizovan i uigran baletski divertisman sa izvrsnom gđom
Kirsanovom n čelu i odličnim solistima gđom Vasiljevom i g. Žukovskim beogradska
kreacija ‘Slepog miša’ bi dobila. Jer bi tok radnje bio življi. G-ca Nuri-Hadžić nam je
otkrila još jednu stranu svoga zltnog dara: sposobnost da se sa uspehom snađe I u pi
kantnim ulogama kao što je uloga Adele.” Miloje Milojević, “Johan Štraus i njego-
va opereta ‘Slepi miš’,” Politika, December 9, 1932, https://digitalna.nb.rs/wb/NBS/
novine/politika/1932/12/09.
248
