Page 295 - 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. 295
václav talich at the slovene provincial theatr e in ljubljana
In the Well by Vilém Blodek, Halka by Stanisław Moniuszko). Despite not
having achieved great prominence on the international scale, these works
nevertheless represented an example for Slovene composers to follow. The
management of the Slovene theatre had also successfully tested the audi-
ence-drawing capacity of the great composers from the East, bringing to
the stage such notable works as Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades
by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky; Ruslan and Lyudmila by Mikhail Ivanovich
Glinka; Rusalka by Antonín Dvořák and The Bartered Bride by Bedřich
Smetana – the last of which, with more than 50 performances since the fo-
unding of the theatre in 1892, was the most popular opera ever performed
at the Slovene Provincial Theatre.6
The management of the German theatre, by contrast, did not pro-
gramme even a single work by composers from Eastern Europe – not even
Smetana’s The Bartered Bride, despite it being staged with great success in
that period in both Klagenfurt and Graz. The reason for this is almost cer-
tainly not to be found in nationalist, anti-Slav tendencies. A more likely
explanation is that the management of the German theatre in Ljubljana at
that time was more interested in acquiring works that were proven draws
in major theatres in Austria, and therefore guaranteed success and pro-
fit. With the opening of the new German theatre dedicated to the Empe-
ror Franz Joseph in the autumn of 1911 (the building that is today home to
the Slovene National Theatre’s dramatic company SNT Drama Ljubljana),
the German Provincial Theatre realised its long-cherished ambition of wre-
sting itself from the grip of the Slovene theatre, which was increasingly li-
miting its activities and gradually driving it out of its original performance
venue (the present-day home of the Opera and Ballet of the Slovene Nati-
onal Theatre in Ljubljana), which had previously housed both compani-
es and where they were forced to share “performance days”. A significant
change had, in fact, already occurred in the 1909/10 season, when the ra-
tio of performance days was increased in favour of the Slovene theatre. The
Provincial Council had granted the wish of the Slovene theatre’s manage-
ment and approved four performance days a week compared to just three
for the German theatre.
Thus in the 1911/12 season both the Germans and the Slovenes achieved
their long-held desire to have their own theatre, although this did not gu-
arantee the survival of either company. While the predominantly liberally
6 Dušan Moravec (ed.), Repertoar slovenskih gledališč 1867–1967 (Ljubljana: Slovenski
gledališki muzej, 1967), 181–201.
293
In the Well by Vilém Blodek, Halka by Stanisław Moniuszko). Despite not
having achieved great prominence on the international scale, these works
nevertheless represented an example for Slovene composers to follow. The
management of the Slovene theatre had also successfully tested the audi-
ence-drawing capacity of the great composers from the East, bringing to
the stage such notable works as Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades
by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky; Ruslan and Lyudmila by Mikhail Ivanovich
Glinka; Rusalka by Antonín Dvořák and The Bartered Bride by Bedřich
Smetana – the last of which, with more than 50 performances since the fo-
unding of the theatre in 1892, was the most popular opera ever performed
at the Slovene Provincial Theatre.6
The management of the German theatre, by contrast, did not pro-
gramme even a single work by composers from Eastern Europe – not even
Smetana’s The Bartered Bride, despite it being staged with great success in
that period in both Klagenfurt and Graz. The reason for this is almost cer-
tainly not to be found in nationalist, anti-Slav tendencies. A more likely
explanation is that the management of the German theatre in Ljubljana at
that time was more interested in acquiring works that were proven draws
in major theatres in Austria, and therefore guaranteed success and pro-
fit. With the opening of the new German theatre dedicated to the Empe-
ror Franz Joseph in the autumn of 1911 (the building that is today home to
the Slovene National Theatre’s dramatic company SNT Drama Ljubljana),
the German Provincial Theatre realised its long-cherished ambition of wre-
sting itself from the grip of the Slovene theatre, which was increasingly li-
miting its activities and gradually driving it out of its original performance
venue (the present-day home of the Opera and Ballet of the Slovene Nati-
onal Theatre in Ljubljana), which had previously housed both compani-
es and where they were forced to share “performance days”. A significant
change had, in fact, already occurred in the 1909/10 season, when the ra-
tio of performance days was increased in favour of the Slovene theatre. The
Provincial Council had granted the wish of the Slovene theatre’s manage-
ment and approved four performance days a week compared to just three
for the German theatre.
Thus in the 1911/12 season both the Germans and the Slovenes achieved
their long-held desire to have their own theatre, although this did not gu-
arantee the survival of either company. While the predominantly liberally
6 Dušan Moravec (ed.), Repertoar slovenskih gledališč 1867–1967 (Ljubljana: Slovenski
gledališki muzej, 1967), 181–201.
293
