Page 303 - 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
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václav talich at the slovene provincial theatr e in ljubljana
Talich’s work in Ljubljana was all too frequently hindered by machi-
nations and incidents caused by musical competitors jealous of his success.
In this context it is particularly worth underlining Talich’s personal rival-
ry with the young and extremely ambitious director of the Glasbena mati-
ca choir, Matej Hubad, who frequently immodestly proclaimed himself the
only capable conductor in Slovenia.
There is no doubt that such circumstances also influenced Talich’s de-
cision to continue his musical career as director of music in Plzeň following
his brief Ljubljana interlude. With his departure, the musical life of Ljublja-
na unquestionably lost an almost irreplaceable element in terms of musical
performance.31 Talich’s departure also represented a kind of end to the bri-
ef pre-war activity of the Slovenian Philharmonic and the Ljubljana Ope-
ra, which would not be capable of another similar breakthrough until Mir-
ko Polič’s time.
Despite the many disappointments associated with his time in the city,
Talich enjoyed returning to Ljubljana in later life.32 He made three further
appearances in Ljubljana as a conductor: in 1926 and 1931 with the Czech
Philharmonic, and in 1933 at the invitation of the Glasbena matica, when he
conducted members of various Ljubljana orchestras in a concert to mark the
25th anniversary of the start of his artistic career. In his later years, he remem-
bered Ljubljana as a “lovely little city”,33 where he had learnt a great deal abo-
ut conducting operas and leading a symphony orchestra, and perfected his
conducting technique. He frequently referred to Slovenia as a second home.
In more encouraging circumstances, Talich would probably have been
able to develop his undoubtedly remarkable artistic potential even further.
In a similar way, an example of this kind, which was not, after all, so rare,
could perhaps have taught us once and for all not to let such first-rate arti-
stic personalities slip so easily through our hands in the future.
Bibliography
Bek, Josef. “Gledališče. Ljubljanska opera kot središče slovensko-čeških glasbe-
nih vezi.” Opera kot socialni ali politični angažma. Ljubljana: Festival Ljublja-
na, 1992.
31 With Talich’s departure, ten of his countrymen also left the orchestra.
32 He also took incognito summer holidays in the Julian Alps and the Pohorje on seve-
ral occasions. Milan Kuna, Václav Talich (Prague: Panton, 1980), 131, 134–135.
33 Václav Talich, Dokument života a díla (Prague: Státni hudební vydavatelství, 1967), 37.
301
Talich’s work in Ljubljana was all too frequently hindered by machi-
nations and incidents caused by musical competitors jealous of his success.
In this context it is particularly worth underlining Talich’s personal rival-
ry with the young and extremely ambitious director of the Glasbena mati-
ca choir, Matej Hubad, who frequently immodestly proclaimed himself the
only capable conductor in Slovenia.
There is no doubt that such circumstances also influenced Talich’s de-
cision to continue his musical career as director of music in Plzeň following
his brief Ljubljana interlude. With his departure, the musical life of Ljublja-
na unquestionably lost an almost irreplaceable element in terms of musical
performance.31 Talich’s departure also represented a kind of end to the bri-
ef pre-war activity of the Slovenian Philharmonic and the Ljubljana Ope-
ra, which would not be capable of another similar breakthrough until Mir-
ko Polič’s time.
Despite the many disappointments associated with his time in the city,
Talich enjoyed returning to Ljubljana in later life.32 He made three further
appearances in Ljubljana as a conductor: in 1926 and 1931 with the Czech
Philharmonic, and in 1933 at the invitation of the Glasbena matica, when he
conducted members of various Ljubljana orchestras in a concert to mark the
25th anniversary of the start of his artistic career. In his later years, he remem-
bered Ljubljana as a “lovely little city”,33 where he had learnt a great deal abo-
ut conducting operas and leading a symphony orchestra, and perfected his
conducting technique. He frequently referred to Slovenia as a second home.
In more encouraging circumstances, Talich would probably have been
able to develop his undoubtedly remarkable artistic potential even further.
In a similar way, an example of this kind, which was not, after all, so rare,
could perhaps have taught us once and for all not to let such first-rate arti-
stic personalities slip so easily through our hands in the future.
Bibliography
Bek, Josef. “Gledališče. Ljubljanska opera kot središče slovensko-čeških glasbe-
nih vezi.” Opera kot socialni ali politični angažma. Ljubljana: Festival Ljublja-
na, 1992.
31 With Talich’s departure, ten of his countrymen also left the orchestra.
32 He also took incognito summer holidays in the Julian Alps and the Pohorje on seve-
ral occasions. Milan Kuna, Václav Talich (Prague: Panton, 1980), 131, 134–135.
33 Václav Talich, Dokument života a díla (Prague: Státni hudební vydavatelství, 1967), 37.
301
