Page 402 - 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. 402
vloga nacionalnih opernih gledališč v 20. in 21. stoletju
This year’s program of the Opera […], compared to previous se-
asons, was extremely fruitful and diverse. […] [They] raised the
number of premieres and their enactments from the maximum of
six to ten from the previous season to the current one, and thus re-
markably freshened its repertoire. This fact and this repertoire poli-
cy […] had a great impact on the theatre attendance.11
In addition to the authors from abroad, this period brought two new
Slovenian names into the operatic repertoire: Bravnič in the 1956/57 season
and Kogoj in the 1958/59 season. In addition to the overwhelmingly positi-
ve reviews, the Opera also faced some negative feedback in the third peri-
od. One such, exceedingly specific example dates to the 1958/59 season and
pertains to the production of Strauss’s Ariadne.
I do believe that the repertoire policy of our Opera may be disputed
as far as choosing to produce Strauss’s Ariadne is concerned. I do
not believe that it was necessary to follow up the staging of Der Ro-
senkavalier with another of Strauss’s operas after such a short time,
all the more because he is a typically Austrian, Viennese composer
at heart, foreign to us Slovenes, and more or less unnecessary to us
from the cultural and political standpoint. […] In spite of the swe-
etness and succulence of Strauss’s music and the overwhelming le-
vel of vocal creations, I was actually exceedingly bored by Ariadne
and I do not believe that others will have a better time.12
The fourth period (1959–1963)
For the 1959/60 season, the SNG management introduced a new policy
regarding the repertoire. It introduced modern works that had not been
previously staged in Ljubljana, and this policy was continued througho-
ut the 1960/61 season. Following the 1959/60 season, the operatic repertoi-
re surpassed the third period in terms of the number of productions, as the
1959/60 season saw 21 productions, as well as in terms of the sheer number
of composers featured, which was further increased in comparison with
the previous seasons. The new additions were thus the following: Werner
Egk, Henry Purcell, Gian Carlo Menotti, Richard Wagner, Vincenzo Belli-
ni, Maurice Ravel, Amilcare Ponchielli, Francis Poulenc, Nikolai Rimsky-
11 c, “Med dvema sezonama ljubljanske opere,” Ljubljanski dnevnik, nr. 3, 8. 8. 1953, 2.
12 Uroš Prevoršek, “Richard Strauss v ljubljanski Operi,” Slovenski poročevalec, nr. 15,
19. 1. 1958, 6.
400
This year’s program of the Opera […], compared to previous se-
asons, was extremely fruitful and diverse. […] [They] raised the
number of premieres and their enactments from the maximum of
six to ten from the previous season to the current one, and thus re-
markably freshened its repertoire. This fact and this repertoire poli-
cy […] had a great impact on the theatre attendance.11
In addition to the authors from abroad, this period brought two new
Slovenian names into the operatic repertoire: Bravnič in the 1956/57 season
and Kogoj in the 1958/59 season. In addition to the overwhelmingly positi-
ve reviews, the Opera also faced some negative feedback in the third peri-
od. One such, exceedingly specific example dates to the 1958/59 season and
pertains to the production of Strauss’s Ariadne.
I do believe that the repertoire policy of our Opera may be disputed
as far as choosing to produce Strauss’s Ariadne is concerned. I do
not believe that it was necessary to follow up the staging of Der Ro-
senkavalier with another of Strauss’s operas after such a short time,
all the more because he is a typically Austrian, Viennese composer
at heart, foreign to us Slovenes, and more or less unnecessary to us
from the cultural and political standpoint. […] In spite of the swe-
etness and succulence of Strauss’s music and the overwhelming le-
vel of vocal creations, I was actually exceedingly bored by Ariadne
and I do not believe that others will have a better time.12
The fourth period (1959–1963)
For the 1959/60 season, the SNG management introduced a new policy
regarding the repertoire. It introduced modern works that had not been
previously staged in Ljubljana, and this policy was continued througho-
ut the 1960/61 season. Following the 1959/60 season, the operatic repertoi-
re surpassed the third period in terms of the number of productions, as the
1959/60 season saw 21 productions, as well as in terms of the sheer number
of composers featured, which was further increased in comparison with
the previous seasons. The new additions were thus the following: Werner
Egk, Henry Purcell, Gian Carlo Menotti, Richard Wagner, Vincenzo Belli-
ni, Maurice Ravel, Amilcare Ponchielli, Francis Poulenc, Nikolai Rimsky-
11 c, “Med dvema sezonama ljubljanske opere,” Ljubljanski dnevnik, nr. 3, 8. 8. 1953, 2.
12 Uroš Prevoršek, “Richard Strauss v ljubljanski Operi,” Slovenski poročevalec, nr. 15,
19. 1. 1958, 6.
400
