Page 448 - 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. 448
vloga nacionalnih opernih gledališč v 20. in 21. stoletju
Wolfgang Marx
Opera in Ireland – A Continuing Struggle for Acceptance
This essay offers a comparison of the provision of opera in Ireland (particu-
larly in Dublin) in the early twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, with
a special focus on structural issues such as the number of opera companies,
the size of venues or the degree of state support. It shows that despite a re-
cent increase in the number of productions and performances there still
were more performances at least in Dublin (although probably not else-
where in the country) a century ago. There is a recently designated “Na-
tional Opera House” in a small town in the Irish South-East which remains
unused for most of the year while there is also a recently formed “Irish Na-
tional Opera” company which does not have a home venue. In 2017/18 opera
productions in Ireland were run by sixteen different national and interna-
tional companies, ranging from full-scale productions of canonic and (sur-
prisingly many) non-canonic works to concert performances and smaller
productions with reduced orchestras. Long-term strategic planning is very
difficult due to the Irish Arts Council’s funding strategy. However, about
three new operas per year are currently funded, commissioned and pre-
miered in Ireland.
Keywords: Opera in Ireland, opera in Dublin, contemporary opera, opera
and nationalism, operatic infrastructure
Lauma Mellēna-Bartkeviča
Opera and national culture in Latvia: centenary balance
The article overviews the relationship between opera and national culture
in Latvia in the crossroads of the 100th anniversary of the state and Latvian
National Opera and Ballet. Chronological perspective reveals several cru-
cial contexts and concepts related to the opera and Latvian-ness in the light
of social history.
Standing on crossroads between Russian and German political and cultur-
al influences, opera since the first Latvian opera troupe founded by Pavuls
Jurjans on 1912 has been one of the cultural cornerstones leading to na-
tional state. The features of Latvian national identity on opera stage appear
long before the proclamation of a national state. Latvian National opera has
been one of the Latvian cultural pillars both institutionally and artistically
during the first Republic (1918-1939), during two world wars and the follow-
ing Soviet occupation. First Latvian original operas – „Baniuta” by Alfreds
Kalnins and „Fire and Night” by Janis Medins in the early 20-ies of the 20th
446
Wolfgang Marx
Opera in Ireland – A Continuing Struggle for Acceptance
This essay offers a comparison of the provision of opera in Ireland (particu-
larly in Dublin) in the early twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, with
a special focus on structural issues such as the number of opera companies,
the size of venues or the degree of state support. It shows that despite a re-
cent increase in the number of productions and performances there still
were more performances at least in Dublin (although probably not else-
where in the country) a century ago. There is a recently designated “Na-
tional Opera House” in a small town in the Irish South-East which remains
unused for most of the year while there is also a recently formed “Irish Na-
tional Opera” company which does not have a home venue. In 2017/18 opera
productions in Ireland were run by sixteen different national and interna-
tional companies, ranging from full-scale productions of canonic and (sur-
prisingly many) non-canonic works to concert performances and smaller
productions with reduced orchestras. Long-term strategic planning is very
difficult due to the Irish Arts Council’s funding strategy. However, about
three new operas per year are currently funded, commissioned and pre-
miered in Ireland.
Keywords: Opera in Ireland, opera in Dublin, contemporary opera, opera
and nationalism, operatic infrastructure
Lauma Mellēna-Bartkeviča
Opera and national culture in Latvia: centenary balance
The article overviews the relationship between opera and national culture
in Latvia in the crossroads of the 100th anniversary of the state and Latvian
National Opera and Ballet. Chronological perspective reveals several cru-
cial contexts and concepts related to the opera and Latvian-ness in the light
of social history.
Standing on crossroads between Russian and German political and cultur-
al influences, opera since the first Latvian opera troupe founded by Pavuls
Jurjans on 1912 has been one of the cultural cornerstones leading to na-
tional state. The features of Latvian national identity on opera stage appear
long before the proclamation of a national state. Latvian National opera has
been one of the Latvian cultural pillars both institutionally and artistically
during the first Republic (1918-1939), during two world wars and the follow-
ing Soviet occupation. First Latvian original operas – „Baniuta” by Alfreds
Kalnins and „Fire and Night” by Janis Medins in the early 20-ies of the 20th
446
