Page 388 - 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. 388
opereta med obema svetovnima vojnama
The dramatic change in the balance of opera and operetta had changed
in Maribor, too. After the performances of Viktor Parma’s Caričine ama
zonke in February 1941, there were no more productions at all until the per-
formances in December 1945 of Smetana’s Prodana nevesta (The Bartered
Bride) and that is not considered an operetta as such. After World War II
the Maribor opera house, like that in Ljubljana, abandoned operettas al-
most completely, with only the occasional productions of classics by Strauss
and Léhar.31 This situation was summed up very clearly by Gregor Pompe:
Planinska roža was not only a success, but also there was a con
troversy about the significance of performing operettas, which was
stirred up by the new government after the Second World War.
Thus, a comparison of the schedules of the two Slovene opera hous
es from the time before and after the Second World War in terms of
repertory, show, above all, that both institutions avoided perform
ing operettas.32
The Support for the Partisans
In Slovenia, then part of Yugoslavia, during the war years there was the ad-
ditional factor of the revolution taking place within its borders. Because
support for Marshal Tito’s Partisans was strong, a number of composers
abandoned any work on ‘serious’ composition to join the forces of the Par-
tisans with rousing militaristic songs. Not all composers were involved, but
those that were, included Bojan Adamič, Ciril Cvetko, Marjan Kozina, Ja
nez Kuhar, Karol Pahor, Rado Simoniti, Pavel Šivic, Franc Šturm, and Ra-
dovan Gobec.33 It was at this stage that Gobec abandoned operetta for his
dedicated war effort with the Partisans34 and was now in the forefront of the
31 For the years 1945–50 see Moravec, Repertoar slovenskih gledališč 1867–1967, 445–50.
32 Gregor Pompe, “Operete Radovana Gobca,” in Radovan Gobec (1909–1995), ed. Dar-
ja Koter (Ljubljana: Akademija za glasbo, 2010), 153.
33 Dragotin Cvetko, Slovenska glasba v Evropskem prostoru (Ljubljana: Slovenska mat-
ica, 1991), 386–87, 488, names some of the composers involved. Andrej Rijavec gives
details of the wartime work of Rado Simoniti in Slovenska glasbena dela (Ljubljana:
Državna založba Slovenije, 1979), 264–5. The context of Gobec’s wartime situation is
given by Veronika Šarec in “Množična, revolucionarna in delavska pesem na Sloven-
skem, vpeta v nacionalno gibanje 19. stoletja in družbeno-politične direktive 20. sto-
letja” in Radovan Gobec (1909–1995), 65–73.
34 Sivec, Radovan Gobec, 51–62, presents a comprehensive coverage of Gobec’s World
War II activities in vivid detail.
386
The dramatic change in the balance of opera and operetta had changed
in Maribor, too. After the performances of Viktor Parma’s Caričine ama
zonke in February 1941, there were no more productions at all until the per-
formances in December 1945 of Smetana’s Prodana nevesta (The Bartered
Bride) and that is not considered an operetta as such. After World War II
the Maribor opera house, like that in Ljubljana, abandoned operettas al-
most completely, with only the occasional productions of classics by Strauss
and Léhar.31 This situation was summed up very clearly by Gregor Pompe:
Planinska roža was not only a success, but also there was a con
troversy about the significance of performing operettas, which was
stirred up by the new government after the Second World War.
Thus, a comparison of the schedules of the two Slovene opera hous
es from the time before and after the Second World War in terms of
repertory, show, above all, that both institutions avoided perform
ing operettas.32
The Support for the Partisans
In Slovenia, then part of Yugoslavia, during the war years there was the ad-
ditional factor of the revolution taking place within its borders. Because
support for Marshal Tito’s Partisans was strong, a number of composers
abandoned any work on ‘serious’ composition to join the forces of the Par-
tisans with rousing militaristic songs. Not all composers were involved, but
those that were, included Bojan Adamič, Ciril Cvetko, Marjan Kozina, Ja
nez Kuhar, Karol Pahor, Rado Simoniti, Pavel Šivic, Franc Šturm, and Ra-
dovan Gobec.33 It was at this stage that Gobec abandoned operetta for his
dedicated war effort with the Partisans34 and was now in the forefront of the
31 For the years 1945–50 see Moravec, Repertoar slovenskih gledališč 1867–1967, 445–50.
32 Gregor Pompe, “Operete Radovana Gobca,” in Radovan Gobec (1909–1995), ed. Dar-
ja Koter (Ljubljana: Akademija za glasbo, 2010), 153.
33 Dragotin Cvetko, Slovenska glasba v Evropskem prostoru (Ljubljana: Slovenska mat-
ica, 1991), 386–87, 488, names some of the composers involved. Andrej Rijavec gives
details of the wartime work of Rado Simoniti in Slovenska glasbena dela (Ljubljana:
Državna založba Slovenije, 1979), 264–5. The context of Gobec’s wartime situation is
given by Veronika Šarec in “Množična, revolucionarna in delavska pesem na Sloven-
skem, vpeta v nacionalno gibanje 19. stoletja in družbeno-politične direktive 20. sto-
letja” in Radovan Gobec (1909–1995), 65–73.
34 Sivec, Radovan Gobec, 51–62, presents a comprehensive coverage of Gobec’s World
War II activities in vivid detail.
386
