Page 13 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2019. Vloga nacionalnih opernih gledališč v 20. in 21. stoletju - The Role of National Opera Houses in the 20th and 21st Centuries. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 3
P. 13
foreword
sporadically come to a head at the Ljubljana Opera or the Maribor Opera,
the two principal centres of operatic art in Slovenia.
Unfortunately, these issues are all too often dependent on current po-
litical interests and have less to do with profound reflection and a long-term
strategy as regards personnel and repertoire. The latter often remains mere-
ly words on a piece of paper, since it is incapable of surviving more than a
single term in office and bringing about the necessary changes within the
majority of state cultural institutions. Not even the re-emerging trend for
self-management is something upon which the management of principal
musical institutions would be based in an advanced cultural milieu, not
to mention a disastrous employment policy that equates artists with oth-
er professional groups by levelling wages. Both factors lead to uncompeti-
tiveness in a comparable environment, let alone one that is culturally more
developed.
A musically impoverished media landscape, uncritically substituted in
some of Slovenia’s principal media by reporting on popular culture, is be-
coming our everyday reality. This kind of instant cultural policy is increas-
ingly followed by the general taste of audiences, while not even the artistic
concepts of individual cultural institutions are immune to it. According-
ly, the programmes of the majority of national musical institutions are still
dominated by the logic of the pleasing and still acceptable classic reper-
toire. There is probably no need to underline the fact that it is consequent-
ly becoming increasingly difficult for artists working in Slovenia to break
through with new works. At the same time, and with the exception of fes-
tival events, our largely half-empty concert halls and opera houses are call-
ing out to us to make radical changes and, above all, to educate audiences
– something that the most successful cultural institutions around Europe
realised decades ago.
On the other hand, the extremely rich history of opera in Slovenia
clearly shows us that even in considerably less favourable circumstances
(in terms of personnel and funding), such as the reconstruction that fol-
lowed the First World War (with poorer infrastructure, which is all too of-
ten an excuse for the absence of more durable concepts) we have been capa-
ble – thanks to the vision of a small number of significant individuals – of
achieving many enviable artistic superlatives.
Thus the initial question – What is the role of national or state opera
houses and other musical institutions in today’s culturally increasingly ap-
athetic society? – is undoubtedly an appropriate one. Be that as it may, this
11
sporadically come to a head at the Ljubljana Opera or the Maribor Opera,
the two principal centres of operatic art in Slovenia.
Unfortunately, these issues are all too often dependent on current po-
litical interests and have less to do with profound reflection and a long-term
strategy as regards personnel and repertoire. The latter often remains mere-
ly words on a piece of paper, since it is incapable of surviving more than a
single term in office and bringing about the necessary changes within the
majority of state cultural institutions. Not even the re-emerging trend for
self-management is something upon which the management of principal
musical institutions would be based in an advanced cultural milieu, not
to mention a disastrous employment policy that equates artists with oth-
er professional groups by levelling wages. Both factors lead to uncompeti-
tiveness in a comparable environment, let alone one that is culturally more
developed.
A musically impoverished media landscape, uncritically substituted in
some of Slovenia’s principal media by reporting on popular culture, is be-
coming our everyday reality. This kind of instant cultural policy is increas-
ingly followed by the general taste of audiences, while not even the artistic
concepts of individual cultural institutions are immune to it. According-
ly, the programmes of the majority of national musical institutions are still
dominated by the logic of the pleasing and still acceptable classic reper-
toire. There is probably no need to underline the fact that it is consequent-
ly becoming increasingly difficult for artists working in Slovenia to break
through with new works. At the same time, and with the exception of fes-
tival events, our largely half-empty concert halls and opera houses are call-
ing out to us to make radical changes and, above all, to educate audiences
– something that the most successful cultural institutions around Europe
realised decades ago.
On the other hand, the extremely rich history of opera in Slovenia
clearly shows us that even in considerably less favourable circumstances
(in terms of personnel and funding), such as the reconstruction that fol-
lowed the First World War (with poorer infrastructure, which is all too of-
ten an excuse for the absence of more durable concepts) we have been capa-
ble – thanks to the vision of a small number of significant individuals – of
achieving many enviable artistic superlatives.
Thus the initial question – What is the role of national or state opera
houses and other musical institutions in today’s culturally increasingly ap-
athetic society? – is undoubtedly an appropriate one. Be that as it may, this
11
