Page 179 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2020. Konservatoriji: profesionalizacija in specializacija glasbenega dela ▪︎ The conservatories: professionalisation and specialisation of musical activity. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 4
P. 179
the establishment of the conservatory of the glasbena matica in ljubljana ...
Opera of the National Theatre in Ljubljana
While the operatic muses had remained silent in Ljubljana during the First
World War, on 6 April 1918 – before the conflict had even ended – Ljublja-
na mayor Ivan Tavčar announced in the newspaper Slovenski narod (“The
Slovene Nation”), under the bombastic headline “Slovenes!”, that “a con-
sortium has been established for the purpose of reviving the Slovene theatre
in Ljubljana and creating a solid financial basis for it.”15 A board of direc-
tors was appointed, consisting of representatives of politics and capital. The
consortium was headed by the wholesale merchant Alojzij Lilleg and a the-
atrical council, which included some leading representatives of the Slovene
cultural community of that time: Anton Funtek, Matej Hubad, Fran Saleški
Finžgar, Alojz Kraigher, Oton Župančič and Izidor Cankar. Undoubtedly
the biggest contribution to the revival of the theatre came from Fran Gov-
ekar, who brought together the necessary technical staff, singers, orchestra,
chorus and conductors. It was also thanks to his personal efforts that a
Slovene opera and ballet company began its activity with the operetta Les
p’tites Michu (The Little Michus) by André Messager on 21 November 1918.16
Like the first post-war play to be staged in the former Deutsches Theater
– Josip Jurčič’s Tugomer, whose performance in Ljubljana was prohibited in
Austro-Hungarian times – the choice of Smetana’s The Bartered Bride as
the first post-war opera performance at the National Theatre Opera House
in Ljubljana (on 3 December 1918) was no coincidence. Given the more than
50 performances of this work at the (Slovene) Provincial Theatre before the
start of the First World War17, it could almost be characterised as Slove-
nia’s second “national” opera. Like so many times before, the production il-
lustrated the connection between the Slovene and Czech nations and was
at the same time an acknowledgement of the fraternal assistance of Czech
artists to the benefit of Slovene theatre.18 In this connection it should also
be mentioned that Smetana’s countryman Anton Foerster, who lived and
worked in Slovenia, closely modelled his own opera Gorenjski slavček (The
vladi v Ljubljani 1918–1920,” Časopis za zgodovino in narodopisje 66, no. 2 (1995): 284–
291.
15 Ivan Tavčar, “Slovenke in Slovenci!” Slovenski narod 51, no. 78 (6 April 1918): 1.
16 Dušan Moravec, ed., Repertoar slovenskih gledališč 1867–1967 (Ljubljana: Slovenski
gledališki muzej, 1967), 204.
17 Ibid., 181–201.
18 Jernej Weiss, Češki glasbeniki v 19. in na začetku 20. stoletja na Slovenskem (Maribor:
Litera and Univerza v Mariboru, 2012), 362–370.
177
Opera of the National Theatre in Ljubljana
While the operatic muses had remained silent in Ljubljana during the First
World War, on 6 April 1918 – before the conflict had even ended – Ljublja-
na mayor Ivan Tavčar announced in the newspaper Slovenski narod (“The
Slovene Nation”), under the bombastic headline “Slovenes!”, that “a con-
sortium has been established for the purpose of reviving the Slovene theatre
in Ljubljana and creating a solid financial basis for it.”15 A board of direc-
tors was appointed, consisting of representatives of politics and capital. The
consortium was headed by the wholesale merchant Alojzij Lilleg and a the-
atrical council, which included some leading representatives of the Slovene
cultural community of that time: Anton Funtek, Matej Hubad, Fran Saleški
Finžgar, Alojz Kraigher, Oton Župančič and Izidor Cankar. Undoubtedly
the biggest contribution to the revival of the theatre came from Fran Gov-
ekar, who brought together the necessary technical staff, singers, orchestra,
chorus and conductors. It was also thanks to his personal efforts that a
Slovene opera and ballet company began its activity with the operetta Les
p’tites Michu (The Little Michus) by André Messager on 21 November 1918.16
Like the first post-war play to be staged in the former Deutsches Theater
– Josip Jurčič’s Tugomer, whose performance in Ljubljana was prohibited in
Austro-Hungarian times – the choice of Smetana’s The Bartered Bride as
the first post-war opera performance at the National Theatre Opera House
in Ljubljana (on 3 December 1918) was no coincidence. Given the more than
50 performances of this work at the (Slovene) Provincial Theatre before the
start of the First World War17, it could almost be characterised as Slove-
nia’s second “national” opera. Like so many times before, the production il-
lustrated the connection between the Slovene and Czech nations and was
at the same time an acknowledgement of the fraternal assistance of Czech
artists to the benefit of Slovene theatre.18 In this connection it should also
be mentioned that Smetana’s countryman Anton Foerster, who lived and
worked in Slovenia, closely modelled his own opera Gorenjski slavček (The
vladi v Ljubljani 1918–1920,” Časopis za zgodovino in narodopisje 66, no. 2 (1995): 284–
291.
15 Ivan Tavčar, “Slovenke in Slovenci!” Slovenski narod 51, no. 78 (6 April 1918): 1.
16 Dušan Moravec, ed., Repertoar slovenskih gledališč 1867–1967 (Ljubljana: Slovenski
gledališki muzej, 1967), 204.
17 Ibid., 181–201.
18 Jernej Weiss, Češki glasbeniki v 19. in na začetku 20. stoletja na Slovenskem (Maribor:
Litera and Univerza v Mariboru, 2012), 362–370.
177
