Page 296 - 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. 296
vloga nacionalnih opernih gledališč v 20. in 21. stoletju
oriented Slovene management was faced with serious internal political
pressures and the opposition of the clerical majority on the Provincial Co-
uncil, the Germans found themselves losing ground in an increasingly Slo-
vene Ljubljana that was too small to sustain two theatrical institutions. In
1910 Ljubljana had a population of only slightly over 45,000,7 including sol-
diers, with only around 14 per cent still defining themselves as Germans.8
Guest soloists contributed greatly to the quality of German and Slove-
ne opera evenings. Among them were some big names from the musical-
-dramatic scene of that time, for example Leonija Brückl, the prima donna
of the Zagreb Opera, the tenor František Pácal, a member of the Hofoper
(Court Opera) in Vienna, and Bohumil Pták of Prague’s Národní divadlo
(National Theatre), who in 1901 had sung the role of the Prince at the world
premiere of Rusalka in Prague.9 With their expertise and the high artistic
level of their interpretation, they had a direct influence on the other solo-
ists. Such famous names are also a good indicator of the prestige enjoyed by
the Ljubljana theatre, as well as evidence of the financial resources availa-
ble to its management.
Besides the orchestra and soloists, who were the most frequent focus of
attention of the non-professional audience, it was the conductors who were
most responsible for the quality of musical-dramatic productions. The la-
tter had an even more important role in the preparation of musical-drama-
tic works in the past than they do today. The conductor was responsible for
all the music and, not infrequently, for directing the piece too. The conduc-
tor’s tasks included studying the work to be staged, preparing the orchestra
and the singers, rehearsing the singers, and so on. This involvement of the
conductor in every aspect of the preparation of a musical-dramatic work
is evidence that the role was conceived considerably more broadly than is
usually the case today. Under these circumstances, the permanency of a
conductor’s engagement was, of course, of crucial importance. From this
point of view, the organisational possibilities open to the management of
the Slovene Provincial Theatre were more satisfactory than those available
to their German counterparts, since the number of conductors employed
by the Slovene theatre in the two decades following its founding in 1892 was
7 Lojze Pipp, “Razvoj števila prebivalstva Ljubljane in bivše vojvodine Kranjske,” Kro-
nika slovenskih mest 2 (1935), 1: 70.
8 Dragan Matić, Nemci v Ljubljani: 1861–1918 (Ljubljana: Oddelek za zgodovino Filo-
zofske fakultete, 2002), 433.
9 Špela Lah, “Opera v Deželnem gledališču med letoma 1861 in 1914,” Zlitje stoletij:
SNG Opera in balet Ljubljana (Ljubljana: SNG Opera in balet, 2011), 139.
294
oriented Slovene management was faced with serious internal political
pressures and the opposition of the clerical majority on the Provincial Co-
uncil, the Germans found themselves losing ground in an increasingly Slo-
vene Ljubljana that was too small to sustain two theatrical institutions. In
1910 Ljubljana had a population of only slightly over 45,000,7 including sol-
diers, with only around 14 per cent still defining themselves as Germans.8
Guest soloists contributed greatly to the quality of German and Slove-
ne opera evenings. Among them were some big names from the musical-
-dramatic scene of that time, for example Leonija Brückl, the prima donna
of the Zagreb Opera, the tenor František Pácal, a member of the Hofoper
(Court Opera) in Vienna, and Bohumil Pták of Prague’s Národní divadlo
(National Theatre), who in 1901 had sung the role of the Prince at the world
premiere of Rusalka in Prague.9 With their expertise and the high artistic
level of their interpretation, they had a direct influence on the other solo-
ists. Such famous names are also a good indicator of the prestige enjoyed by
the Ljubljana theatre, as well as evidence of the financial resources availa-
ble to its management.
Besides the orchestra and soloists, who were the most frequent focus of
attention of the non-professional audience, it was the conductors who were
most responsible for the quality of musical-dramatic productions. The la-
tter had an even more important role in the preparation of musical-drama-
tic works in the past than they do today. The conductor was responsible for
all the music and, not infrequently, for directing the piece too. The conduc-
tor’s tasks included studying the work to be staged, preparing the orchestra
and the singers, rehearsing the singers, and so on. This involvement of the
conductor in every aspect of the preparation of a musical-dramatic work
is evidence that the role was conceived considerably more broadly than is
usually the case today. Under these circumstances, the permanency of a
conductor’s engagement was, of course, of crucial importance. From this
point of view, the organisational possibilities open to the management of
the Slovene Provincial Theatre were more satisfactory than those available
to their German counterparts, since the number of conductors employed
by the Slovene theatre in the two decades following its founding in 1892 was
7 Lojze Pipp, “Razvoj števila prebivalstva Ljubljane in bivše vojvodine Kranjske,” Kro-
nika slovenskih mest 2 (1935), 1: 70.
8 Dragan Matić, Nemci v Ljubljani: 1861–1918 (Ljubljana: Oddelek za zgodovino Filo-
zofske fakultete, 2002), 433.
9 Špela Lah, “Opera v Deželnem gledališču med letoma 1861 in 1914,” Zlitje stoletij:
SNG Opera in balet Ljubljana (Ljubljana: SNG Opera in balet, 2011), 139.
294
