Creating the repertoire of the Opera of the National Theatre in Belgrade (1970–1990)

Abstract

The body of the musicological literature has given a necessary contribution to the notated history of Belgrade’s Opera. It con tains, among others, historiographical and review studies con cerning Opera’s repertoire since its foundation until World War II. After that period, we get insight into the repertoire through the documented reports on Opera’s work abroad, as well as indi vidual studies. The subject of this paper relates to the opera re pertoire research of the National Theater in Belgrade from 1970 to 1990. The starting point for the research of the opera reperto ire falls within the reach of musicology. However, given that the subject of the research is complex, interdisciplinary approach is also applied (interconnection with the sociology of music and cultural politics). In this study, the repertoire is viewed as a dyna mic structure which is a departure point for research, i.e., it is kind of a given of the specifi c time, or a “frozen picture” that is, at the same time also a result of the certain repertoire politics of its organizers and implementers. Furthermore, the repertoire is also a construct of the given period, in line with the possibilities of the institution. In that sense, it is necessary to identify and analyze those factors that modify and produce a repertoire, such as fi nancial possibilities, participators (opera ensemble, manage ment professionals and administrative boards), public, and the critics. Some of the questions that emerge relate to available potentials and the way they were utilized. Along with the analysis of the specifi c factors, the attention is also given to the “totality of the picture” created by those factors, and the mutually conditioned elements of this complex system. Since the subject of research also encompasses a particular social context, the selfmanagement period, in this paper, I will also analyze how the self-management and its way of making decisions contributed to the development of the certain repertoire of the Opera.