Hudobné divadlo v priestore a čase Toto monotematické číslo časopisu musicologica.eu je venované problematike hudobného divadla v strednej Európe v 19. a 20. storočí. Ambíciou autorov jednotlivých príspevkov nebolo poňať vymedzenú tému synteticky, čo by bolo sotva možné vzhľadom na široké časové vymedzenie a koniec koncov aj na otvorenosť pojmu „stredná Európa“. Naším cieľom nebolo vyrozprávať celistvý…
Searching for Opera’sraisond’être: a Life Story of the “undead” Artistic Genre in Bratislava
The title of this essay is inspired by the publication Zápas o podobu a zmysel SND (Dokumenty SND, zv. 1) [The Fight for the raisond’être and Constitution of the Slovak National Theatre (Documents of the SNT, vol. 1)]. The “raisond’être of the SNT”, the existence of the SNT as a demonstration of a clearly delineated public interest, is a concept that has been gradually consolidating in the course of the theatre‘s history, the birth and first steps of which were more the manifestation of politics than the formulation of an authentic social “will to theatre” (Martin Bendik). The development of the SNT Opera and its audience was affected by two periods under totalitarian regimes: the years of the First Slovak State, and the period of the 1950s, although the influence of politics and ideology on opera mostly did not manifest itself in the form of censorship or bans. The repertoire as well as opera reception after 1948 reveal the residues of stereotypes of the bourgeois notion of opera, which implies an immensely apolitical character of this artistic genre. The sociological survey carried out in 1968–1969 under Michal Hruškovic was aimed at determining the causes of poor attendance of the Opera of the SNT; this survey remains the unique study of the social structure of the opera audience and the specific position of the opera in Bratislava, the city in which the social function of culture has been a typical “mixture” of stereotypes of inherited bourgeois culture (Bildung) and elements of younger ideologies, namely the nationalist ideology, in the course of the entire 20th century.
Fulfilling Tasks or Artistic Autonomy? Stage Dance in Vienna, Bratislava and Brno
Though theoreticians have declared many times the equality of particular stage forms, the everyday practice of multi-ensemble theatres shows exactly the opposite. The model example may be the histories of ballet ensembles in Bratislava, Brno and Vienna from the end of the 19th century until today, which reveal the artistic dependency of ballet ensembles. In the 19th century the ballet was part of grand opéra;if no such work was in the repertoire, the theatre often disposed of the ballet altogether. Independent ballet performances were rare and they were always either easy or commercially successful pieces. These ensembles witnessed a period of development and valuable dramaturgy during the 1920s and 1930s however, which was determined by distinctive personalities leading the theatres. The communist regime brought a forced orientation to the aesthetics and repertoire of the Soviet ballet school for the theatres in Bratislava and Brno, which was distinguished for its virtuosity as well as rigid dramaturgical schemes of the pieces. The development after 1989 documents the dependence of ballet ensembles and their artistic results on finances. The ballet genre has won a certain position in the multi-ensemble theatre in the 21st century; however, we still cannot speak about its equality with the other ensembles of the theatre.
The Dramaturgy of Oskar Nedbal and its Starting Points
Oskar Nedbal, the director and entrepreneur of the Slovak National Theatre in the period 1923–1930, helped the theatre to achieve success abroad and, even more importantly, to gain the favour of the German and Hungarian long-time residents of Bratislava and educate the Slovak theatre audience. He was criticised, however, for a dramaturgy that did not follow a certain “strong and fixed plan” (Štefan Hoza). A more careful study can reveal the core of his dramaturgical thinking. Almost every one of Nedbal’s choices takes into account the experience from the preceding periods of his artistic path. His Bratislava dramaturgy reflects especially the era of Karel Kovařovic in the Prague National Theatre (1900–1906). Other Bratislava productions reveal the return to Nedbal’s Vienna projects. His choice of collaborators – set and costume designers, stage directors – confirms that Nedbal accentuated the scenic component of the performance, but he lacked the knowledge of the latest tendencies in the realm of staging. His artistic development was over before he came to Bratislava, but the way in which he reflected the disappearing world of Late-Romantic music theatre is vital and authentic, and as such it became the perfect launching pad for a new, modern artistic orientation, which was later accomplished by his nephew and successor Karel Nedbal.
The Origination of the Slovak National Theatre: Building, Ensemble, and City Paradoxes
This essay focuses on the relations of German, Hungarian, Czech and Slovak theatres in the joint theatre building. Using music as a language, Oskar Nedbal, the theatre director in the period 1923–1930, bridged the nationalist rivalry; Karel Nedbal, together with the stage director Viktor Šulc and scene designer František Tröster, created in 1928–1938 a period of a modern opera. The stage director Ján Jamnický, influenced by Russian constructivism and German expressionism, created the counterpart to the modern opera. He and architect Emil Belluš found the impulses for this in the guest appearances of German actors and actresses, including Alexander Moissi, Ernst Deutsch, Tilla Durieux and Fritz Kortner. As the leading personalities of the new generation of Slovak theatre artists, they liberated the stage, and stepped away from the imitation of reality to the theatre as a sign of reality. The building of the Municipal Theatre witnessed also the birth of modern Slovak opera in works by Eugen Suchoň, Ján Cikker and Juraj Beneš. In its time the Bratislava theatre was a unique phenomenon: every week it gave performances in four different languages, thus being a certain “theatre of nations” in the city which was linked to Vienna, the capital of the former Empire, by a tram.
Entertainment in Central Europe: The System of Roles as a Means to Standardization in Popular Musical Theater
Operetta was, with respect to the quantity of production and reception, the most important genre in central European theater of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The prerequisite for the mass production of operetta was a wide-reaching standardization in the construction of plots, the composition of librettos, and in musical practices. Central to this standardization were stock character parts that were used as bearers of the musical dramaturgy. The changes that the dramaturgy of operetta passed through in the course of these decades stand in immediate relation to the shifts in contour of relevant character parts and the development of new parts. This article sketches these relationships and focuses upon a role that was particularly important for the culture of the late Habsburg Empire, the role of the Jewish character.
Gender Studies: Women in Opera and Operetta Ensembles of the Municipal Theatre in Bratislava (1886–1920)
This study surveys the performing of female opera/operetta singers in the Municipal Theatre in Bratislava in the period of 1886–1920 and the premiere of the opera Tamaro (1907), composed by Bratislava composer and countess Alexandrine Esterházy-Rossi, in the context of the history of female composers. The profession of the opera singer represents the only occupation in which the “emancipation” of gender roles had been implemented since the origination of the opera as an institution. Guest performances of two singers are examined in detail: Lujza Blaha (1850–1926) and Irma de Spányi (1861–1932). Whereas in the area of performance women could reach the highest level, the creative skills and the profession of music composer had been considered exclusively the male domain. The lyrical romantic opera Tamaro by Alexandrine Esterházy-Rossi (1844–1919) was originally premiered in the Municipal Theatre in 1907, with the true name of the composer hidden behind the male pseudonym Alex Ertis. At present the work is lost. Lyricism, a wealth of melodic devices and graceful orchestration were emphasized in the press reviews. The libretto was criticised as it was lacking crucial dramatic situations. The performance of Alexandrine Esterházy-Rossi’s opera serves as an example of the continuous transformation of the opinions regarding female creativity.
Focusing on the Municipal Theatre in Pressburg in 1886–1920
The establishment and development of the Municipal Theatre in Pressburg in the period 1886–1920 was closely linked with the cultural and social development of the city in the period following the Austrian-Hungarian Compromise in 1867. The theatre was built by Pressburg townsmen, at that time the rising stratum of the population. It offered them the space for the demonstration of their social status, and, most of all, entertainment and relaxation. The edifice of the theatre was owned by the city, which used to rent it to German and Hungarian theatre directors and their companies. The theatre was run this way until 1920, when the political situation resulted in a change, and regular performances of Czech, and later also Slovak artists started to take place in the theatre. The repertoire of the Municipal Theatre was that of a provincial theatre of the period. Its wide scope had to address the biggest part of population, as it had to secure the income for the director as well as the whole theatre ensemble. Helped by the closeness of Vienna and due to local patriotism of the city residents, the Pressburg Municipal Theatre evolved into the leading scene among the provincial theatres in Hungary.
Opera as a Symbol of Status. The Hungarian Royal Opera 1884–1920
Opera, with its magical ability to worship, to invoke that which does not exist (yet), played a weighty role in the history of the Hungarian national movement. From the point of view of the history of opera practice in the contemporary Hungarian metropolis, the year 1812 is an important landmark – it is the year of the opening of the Royal Municipal German Theatre in Pest. In 1837 the Hungarian National Theatre started in the same city, which became the first permanent Hungarian theatrical scene (with the exception of the theatre in Transylvanian Klausenburg/Koloszvár/Cluj). The opera came to the fore soon afterwards, although it developed with the German “burden” for quite a long time. Not only orchestral players, but also the majority of singers had problems with the Hungarian language, which often became the subject of agitated discussions in the nationalist circles. In the middle of the 19th century the ensemble consolidated under the conductor Ferenc Erkel, who fulfilled the concepts of the national opera not only as a conductor, but as a composer, too (Hunyadi László, 1844; Bánk bán, 1861). Conflicts and arguments between the intendants and artistic directors (young Gustav Mahler being one of them) did not prevent the opera from becoming almost a form of mass art in Budapest at the end of the 19th century. This may be proven by the opening of the Folk Opera in 1911 with 3,400 seats. At the same time this artistic genre became attractive for both the intellectuals and modernist artists, Béla Bartók among them.
Some Remarks on the Study of the Repertoire of (not only) National Theatres
This essay focuses on the problems that emerge during the examination and evaluation of the repertoire of opera theatres. The idea was inspired by the publication of Philipp Ther‘s In der Mitte der Gesellschaft. Operntheater in Zentraleuropa 1815–1914 [In the Middle of Society. Opera Theatres in Central Europe 1815–1914], 2006. In an original way, Ther analyses selected Central-European theatres focusing on national repertoire, and a network of relations and parallels occurring in this cultural ambience. However, his description of opera production is influenced by older literature, from which he adopted several simplifications, something evident, for example, in the passages discussing the situation in Prague. In the course of his composing career, Smetana had evolved as a Czech national composer; nevertheless, it is nonsense to apply this image retrospectively and consider his first opera Braniboři v Čechách [The Brandenburgers in Bohemia] as a kind of an anti-Habsburg manifesto. Many of Ther’s stereotypes are based on 19th-century opera journalism, e.g. the vaguely comprehended term of “Wagnerism”, or the conception of 19th-century opera development from the traditional aria opera to the “progressive” musical drama. The image of the period‘s repertoire is distorted also by a lack of awareness of the period‘s theatrical practice (the confined milieu and unsatisfying acoustics, the line-up of the orchestra, cuts, improvisations of the performers in singspiels with spoken dialogues).
Theater – City – Space: Urban Communication Structures in Central Europe
As spaces of memory, the spaces of cities have been influenced in special ways by theater buildings. Theaters created particular urban spaces, and in Central Europe it was especially the implementation of new theater development by the Vienna atelier Fellner&Helmer which, through modular design and reproducibility, gave the cultural space its countenance. Similarities and differences in the production of space by the atelier Fellner&Helmer can be examined in relation to examples in the cities Czernowitz and Iaşi. The forms of communication between cities in Central Europe were particularly significant, for new theatre developments took on an important advertising function, which is documented in the press and in picture-postcard production.
