Page 454 - 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. 454
vloga nacionalnih opernih gledališč v 20. in 21. stoletju
the introduction to his Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy. In
his view, production not only provides the material to satisfy a need (i.e. to
satisfy demand), it also provides the need for the material.
Musical institutions, in our case Slovenia’s opera houses, while rightly tak-
ing into account the economic and commercial aspects, frequently forget
about the interweaving and reciprocal effect of consumption and produc-
tion, and also about their educational mission and their role in shaping aes-
thetic social norms and artistic development.
Beginning with these starting points, I would like to use this paper to of-
fer my own experiences and views through the different fates experienced
by my own operas in terms of their creation, performance and perception
– from my operatic debut, the TV opera King Malhus, to the philosophical
opera Crito, which in the opinion of some experts belongs to the new wave
of 21st century humanism, to Antigone, a version of Dominik Smole’s play.
Keywords: humanistic ideal, production-consumption, national interest,
cultural policy
Jernej Weiss
Václav Talich at the Slovene Provincial Theatre in Ljubljana
Talich’s brief involvement with the Slovene Provincial Theatre in Ljublja-
na, lasting a mere two seasons (1909/10 and 1911/12), was of course insepa-
rably tied to his position as principal conductor of the Slovenian Philhar-
monic Orchestra, founded in 1908. Shortly after the general meeting of the
Glasbena matica on 23 October 1908 and the official renaming of the Ork-
ester Slovenske filharmonije, the management of the latter liaised with the
Slovene Provincial Theatre and secured exclusive rights to accompany per-
formances there.
Critics writing in the Slovene daily press were almost unanimous in their
extremely favourable accounts of Talich’s contribution to the theatre.
Thanks to his unquestionably remarkable capacities as a conductor, which
may be linked to his excellent musical training, his innate musicality and
the cast-iron discipline that characterised him, he succeeded in winning
over the opera audience of his day.
Like almost all great artists in Ljubljana, Talich was also torn between his
own artistic ambitions and financial and personal reality. Unfortunately, he
was working in an environment in which political and ethnic disputes fre-
quently flared up, and was thus not able to contribute as substantially as he
perhaps could have in a musically more stimulating milieu. With his de-
452
the introduction to his Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy. In
his view, production not only provides the material to satisfy a need (i.e. to
satisfy demand), it also provides the need for the material.
Musical institutions, in our case Slovenia’s opera houses, while rightly tak-
ing into account the economic and commercial aspects, frequently forget
about the interweaving and reciprocal effect of consumption and produc-
tion, and also about their educational mission and their role in shaping aes-
thetic social norms and artistic development.
Beginning with these starting points, I would like to use this paper to of-
fer my own experiences and views through the different fates experienced
by my own operas in terms of their creation, performance and perception
– from my operatic debut, the TV opera King Malhus, to the philosophical
opera Crito, which in the opinion of some experts belongs to the new wave
of 21st century humanism, to Antigone, a version of Dominik Smole’s play.
Keywords: humanistic ideal, production-consumption, national interest,
cultural policy
Jernej Weiss
Václav Talich at the Slovene Provincial Theatre in Ljubljana
Talich’s brief involvement with the Slovene Provincial Theatre in Ljublja-
na, lasting a mere two seasons (1909/10 and 1911/12), was of course insepa-
rably tied to his position as principal conductor of the Slovenian Philhar-
monic Orchestra, founded in 1908. Shortly after the general meeting of the
Glasbena matica on 23 October 1908 and the official renaming of the Ork-
ester Slovenske filharmonije, the management of the latter liaised with the
Slovene Provincial Theatre and secured exclusive rights to accompany per-
formances there.
Critics writing in the Slovene daily press were almost unanimous in their
extremely favourable accounts of Talich’s contribution to the theatre.
Thanks to his unquestionably remarkable capacities as a conductor, which
may be linked to his excellent musical training, his innate musicality and
the cast-iron discipline that characterised him, he succeeded in winning
over the opera audience of his day.
Like almost all great artists in Ljubljana, Talich was also torn between his
own artistic ambitions and financial and personal reality. Unfortunately, he
was working in an environment in which political and ethnic disputes fre-
quently flared up, and was thus not able to contribute as substantially as he
perhaps could have in a musically more stimulating milieu. With his de-
452
