Page 301 - 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. 301
václav talich at the slovene provincial theatr e in ljubljana
rected by Talich himself, was met with wild approval. Its famous interme-
zzo had already become something of a hit a decade earlier. Up until the
Second World War, Parma’s opera retained its place alongside The Nightin-
gale of Upper Carniola by Anton Foerster as one of the most frequently per-
formed Slovene musical-dramatic works.
As director of music of the Slovene Provincial Theatre, Talich also in-
vited other conductors to collaborate with him: his Czech countryman Ja-
roslav Jeremiáš, and also Joseph Walther and Niko Štritof. To them he en-
trusted the operettas – for box-office reasons – while he himself worked on
putting together an operatic repertoire that was balanced and at the same
time sufficiently bold. Also worth highlighting in Talich’s second season,
alongside the already mentioned works by the great Slavs, were two classic
masterpieces: Verdi’s Rigoletto, which was considered28 by composer Anton
Lajovic to have created one of the most beautiful impressions of the sea-
son; and seven performances of Bizet’s Carmen, of which Lajovic wrote that
“Talich practically works miracles with his little orchestra.”29
Talich deliberately balanced the season, which in the case of the Slo-
vene Provincial Theatre always ended in late March, with a more modern
work, Milkování (Liebelei) by František Neumann, who would later become
well known as a remarkable interpreter of Janáček’s operas. In other words
Talich decided to stage an opera that had received its world premiere just
a few months earlier in Frankfurt. While this new work may not have met
with the best reception, Talich nevertheless persisted with two repeat per-
formances, since educating the audience seemed to him to be one of the
principal tasks of the Slovene Provincial Theatre.
The already mentioned Lajovic wrote enthusiastically about the new
opera season in Novi akordi: “It is a long time since we saw such an opera
season. This is above all thanks to the young, passionate musical director
Talich, who aspires to lofty artistic goals.”30 Talich’s importance for the de-
velopment of Slovene musical culture does not only lie in the foundations
he laid for Slovenia’s first professional symphony orchestra but also in the
fact that he succeeded in significantly raising the level of the Slovene Pro-
vincial Theatre in terms of both programme and performance.
28 Lajovic, “Gledališče.,” 24. The opera had five repeat performances. Moravec (ed.), Re-
pertoar slovenskih gledališč 1867–1967, 201.
29 Lajovic, “Gledališče.,” 24.
30 Ibid.
299
rected by Talich himself, was met with wild approval. Its famous interme-
zzo had already become something of a hit a decade earlier. Up until the
Second World War, Parma’s opera retained its place alongside The Nightin-
gale of Upper Carniola by Anton Foerster as one of the most frequently per-
formed Slovene musical-dramatic works.
As director of music of the Slovene Provincial Theatre, Talich also in-
vited other conductors to collaborate with him: his Czech countryman Ja-
roslav Jeremiáš, and also Joseph Walther and Niko Štritof. To them he en-
trusted the operettas – for box-office reasons – while he himself worked on
putting together an operatic repertoire that was balanced and at the same
time sufficiently bold. Also worth highlighting in Talich’s second season,
alongside the already mentioned works by the great Slavs, were two classic
masterpieces: Verdi’s Rigoletto, which was considered28 by composer Anton
Lajovic to have created one of the most beautiful impressions of the sea-
son; and seven performances of Bizet’s Carmen, of which Lajovic wrote that
“Talich practically works miracles with his little orchestra.”29
Talich deliberately balanced the season, which in the case of the Slo-
vene Provincial Theatre always ended in late March, with a more modern
work, Milkování (Liebelei) by František Neumann, who would later become
well known as a remarkable interpreter of Janáček’s operas. In other words
Talich decided to stage an opera that had received its world premiere just
a few months earlier in Frankfurt. While this new work may not have met
with the best reception, Talich nevertheless persisted with two repeat per-
formances, since educating the audience seemed to him to be one of the
principal tasks of the Slovene Provincial Theatre.
The already mentioned Lajovic wrote enthusiastically about the new
opera season in Novi akordi: “It is a long time since we saw such an opera
season. This is above all thanks to the young, passionate musical director
Talich, who aspires to lofty artistic goals.”30 Talich’s importance for the de-
velopment of Slovene musical culture does not only lie in the foundations
he laid for Slovenia’s first professional symphony orchestra but also in the
fact that he succeeded in significantly raising the level of the Slovene Pro-
vincial Theatre in terms of both programme and performance.
28 Lajovic, “Gledališče.,” 24. The opera had five repeat performances. Moravec (ed.), Re-
pertoar slovenskih gledališč 1867–1967, 201.
29 Lajovic, “Gledališče.,” 24.
30 Ibid.
299
