Page 298 - 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. 298
vloga nacionalnih opernih gledališč v 20. in 21. stoletju
gue Conservatory.16 There is even a surviving sketch17 of the disposition of
the orchestra, in which we find eight violins, three violas, cellos and dou-
ble basses, two flutes, oboes and clarinets, a bassoon, two trumpets, a harp,
four horns, three trombones and three percussionists. The sketch clearly
shows how Talich placed the cellos in front of him, while the double basses
were at the back, on the conductor’s left. But the Slovene Provincial Theat-
re’s reliance on outside assistance was not limited to the members of the or-
chestra: foreign help was also required when it came to singers. There was,
in fact, a shortage of local soloists (one exception was the bass Josip Križaj,
whose first major role was as Mephistopheles in Gounod’s Faust at the end
of the 1910/11 season), with the result that lists of performers had a predomi-
nantly international flavour. For the most part the foreign performers were
Czechs, reflecting the provenance of both directors of music, Beníšek and
Talich, but there were also several Poles. Performers on stage were requi-
red to have faultless Slovene, and few German-speaking soloists were able
to meet this requirement.
In addition to concerts of “serious music” in the great hall of the Grand
Hotel Union, Talich’s duties included conducting “promenade concerts” in
Tivoli Park, at the Ilirija sports ground and in certain other venues around
Ljubljana, and also the “popular concerts” that the Glasbena matica orga-
nised to accompany “banquets” in the Narodni dom.18 In a similar manner,
during his first season at the Slovene Provincial Theatre, Talich was exclu-
sively responsible for the theatre’s light operetta evenings. The fact that the
music on these occasions served as a kind of Tafelmusik was enough to put
Talich off engagements of this type. Neither did he derive much satisfacti-
on from conducting light operetta at the Slovene Provincial Theatre. At the
end of his first theatrical season he wrote to his fiancée (and future wife)
Vida Prelesnik: “I will eternally be ashamed of all my theatrical activity in
the last season.”19 His performances consisted almost exclusively of little-
-known operettas, although he did conclude his first season at the theatre
16 Stanko Premrl, “Koncerti “Glasbene Matice”.”, Dom in svet 22 (1909), 1 (1. 1.): 47.
17 Kokole, “Václav Talich and the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra (1908–1912),” 179.
18 Jernej Weiss, Češki glasbeniki v 19. in na začetku 20. stoletja na Slovenskem (Maribor:
Litera in Univerza v Mariboru, 2012), 235.
19 “Za tu celou svoji divadelní činnost v loňské sezóně se budu věčně stydět.” Corre-
spondence with Vida Prelesnik Talich, w. d., autumn 1910, Muzeum Českého krasu,
Beroun.
296
gue Conservatory.16 There is even a surviving sketch17 of the disposition of
the orchestra, in which we find eight violins, three violas, cellos and dou-
ble basses, two flutes, oboes and clarinets, a bassoon, two trumpets, a harp,
four horns, three trombones and three percussionists. The sketch clearly
shows how Talich placed the cellos in front of him, while the double basses
were at the back, on the conductor’s left. But the Slovene Provincial Theat-
re’s reliance on outside assistance was not limited to the members of the or-
chestra: foreign help was also required when it came to singers. There was,
in fact, a shortage of local soloists (one exception was the bass Josip Križaj,
whose first major role was as Mephistopheles in Gounod’s Faust at the end
of the 1910/11 season), with the result that lists of performers had a predomi-
nantly international flavour. For the most part the foreign performers were
Czechs, reflecting the provenance of both directors of music, Beníšek and
Talich, but there were also several Poles. Performers on stage were requi-
red to have faultless Slovene, and few German-speaking soloists were able
to meet this requirement.
In addition to concerts of “serious music” in the great hall of the Grand
Hotel Union, Talich’s duties included conducting “promenade concerts” in
Tivoli Park, at the Ilirija sports ground and in certain other venues around
Ljubljana, and also the “popular concerts” that the Glasbena matica orga-
nised to accompany “banquets” in the Narodni dom.18 In a similar manner,
during his first season at the Slovene Provincial Theatre, Talich was exclu-
sively responsible for the theatre’s light operetta evenings. The fact that the
music on these occasions served as a kind of Tafelmusik was enough to put
Talich off engagements of this type. Neither did he derive much satisfacti-
on from conducting light operetta at the Slovene Provincial Theatre. At the
end of his first theatrical season he wrote to his fiancée (and future wife)
Vida Prelesnik: “I will eternally be ashamed of all my theatrical activity in
the last season.”19 His performances consisted almost exclusively of little-
-known operettas, although he did conclude his first season at the theatre
16 Stanko Premrl, “Koncerti “Glasbene Matice”.”, Dom in svet 22 (1909), 1 (1. 1.): 47.
17 Kokole, “Václav Talich and the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra (1908–1912),” 179.
18 Jernej Weiss, Češki glasbeniki v 19. in na začetku 20. stoletja na Slovenskem (Maribor:
Litera in Univerza v Mariboru, 2012), 235.
19 “Za tu celou svoji divadelní činnost v loňské sezóně se budu věčně stydět.” Corre-
spondence with Vida Prelesnik Talich, w. d., autumn 1910, Muzeum Českého krasu,
Beroun.
296
