Opera Productions of the Belgrade National Theatre at the Beginning of the 20th Century Between Political Rivalry and Contested Cultural Strategies

Abstract

One of the most intricate problems of Serbian culture at the beginning of the 20th century referred to the attempts to establish a separate Opera branch of the National Theatre in Belgrade. Polemics about whether the Theatre should cultivate spoken drama only, or both drama and opera as well, contributed to the arising of the “opera question”, a complex issue affected by aesthetic, political, social and economic agents. The “opera question” resulted in discontinuities in improvements of musical ensemble and opera performances of the time, being resolved only later, in restructuring of the Belgrade National Theatre after the First World War (branches of Drama and Opera in 1920, and of Ballet in 1923). I focus my attention on a set of behind-the-scene aspects of opera productions of the National Theatre at the beginning of the 20th century in order to define different, but mutually intertwined agents of the postponed reorganisation of this institution. My main aim is to show that 1) the political and cultural rivalry of leading intellectuals of this institution, and 2) the weak positions of musical representatives in the distribution of power at the National Theatre were crucial in different attempts to establish a separate Opera branch in the Theatre. In this context I illuminate the historical circumstances as well as peculiarities in the field of Serbian music. I place attention on frequent changes of the management staff whose representatives, being active in both the political and cultural fields, showed inconsistency between their ideological and artistic intentions. Contesting programme policies and struggles for power inside the Theatre determined discontinuity of musical practice, actually the two short periods of opera production (1906–1909; 1913–1914) before the Great War.

Ena največjih težav srbske kulture na začetku 20. stoletja so bili poskusi ustanavljanja ločenega opernega odseka v Narodnem gledališču v Beogradu. Polemike o tem, ali naj gledališče goji le govorjeno igro ali tako igro kot opero, so prispevale k nastanku kompleksnega »vprašanja opere«, na katero so vplivali estetski, politični, družbeni in gospodarski dejavniki. Zaradi »vprašanja opere« je bil razvoj glasbenega ansambla in opernih predstav v tistem času večkrat prekinjen, rešitev pa je prišla šele pozneje, s prenovo beograjskega Narodnega gledališča po prvi svetovni vojni (dramski in operni odsek leta 1920 ter baletni odsek leta 1923). Osredotočam se na nekatere vidike zakulisja opernih produkcij v Narodnem gledališču na začetku 20. stoletja, da bi opredelila različne, a povezane dejavnike, ki so vplivali na zapoznelo reorganizacijo ustanove. Moj namen je pokazati, da so politično in kulturno rivalstvo med vodilnimi intelektualci te ustanove ter šibek položaj glasbenih predstavnikov v razporeditvi moči v Narodnem gledališču odločilno vplivali na različne poskuse ustanovitve ločenega opernega odseka znotraj gledališča. V tem kontekstu razjasnjujem zgodovinske okoliščine in posebnosti na srbskem glasbenem področju. Pozornost namenjam pogostim spremembam v vodstvu, katerega predstavniki, dejavni na političnem in kulturnem področju, v svojih ideoloških in umetniških namenih niso bili dosledni. Kresanje programskih politik in boj za prevlado znotraj gledališča sta zaznamovala nepovezanost glasbene dejavnosti, to je dve kratki obdobji operne produkcije (1906–1909 in 1913–1914) pred drugo svetovno vojno.