Operaélet, 1995 (4. évfolyam, 1-5. szám)

1995-09-01 / 4. szám

Mahlert. 1891. március 15-én a művész felbontja szer­ződését a Magyar Királyi Operaházzal. Nyílt levélben búcsúzik, kiemeli a sajtó gyakran tapasztalt jóindula­tát, megértését. Hiszen miről is volt szó: egy cseh-né­­met művész kereste működési területét. Ezt megta­lálta, részben az Operaház keretein belül, másrészt a Filharmóniai Társaságnál. Remekművek dirigálásával kaput tárhatott Európa felé. Mahler azonban ennél többre hivatott: mindenben első akar lenni, s ehhez megvan minden adottsága. Ám be kell látnia, hogy önérdeke nem köthető össze a magyar hazai érde­kekkel. Közben megérkezik a rendkívül előnyös szer­ződése Hamburgból. Egy ideig még tűri a színházi ál­barátok és néhány újságíró mocskolódását, aztán elmegy. Alig harminc hónapot töltött Budapesten. The palace of the Opera House on the Budapest Sugár Avenue opened in 1884 was beautiful and up-to-date but there was a hitch: audiences rather admired it from outside and did not attend performances regularly. Thus, it was suggested in 1888 to look for a new director, someone who was both an eminent musician and a talented organizer. The name of Gustav Mahler came up - among others - and soon an agreement was reached with him. Conditions of the contract were the following: Mahler should leam Hungarian as soon as possible, terminate the multi-language performances and transform the Opera House into a national Hungarian institution. The new director introduced some changes on the stage, fired some members of the choir and painstakingly regulated the course of rehearsals. Following the premiere of the not too popular opera Les Pécheurs de Perles and the flop of a comic opera by Kreutzer the first major success came with the Budapest opening night of Wagner’s Das Rheingold and Valkyries. The beginning of the Wagner cult in Hungary can be dated from this day on - January 25th, 1889. Even those who up till then had been prejudiced against Mahler rendered full homage to him. Mahler deserves also credit for the fact that the Opera House put three operas by Erkel on the stage. The spring of 1889 saw a new successful premiere (The Dragoons of Villars by Maillart) and the highly successful revival of the Mozart opera La Mariage de Figaro. The new season opened up with Lohengrin which seemed to be almost a premiere and proved to be a veritable hit. The successes Ez idő alatt bemutatott 15 operát, 4 balettet és továb­bi 11 művet felújított. Egy soviniszta, antiszemita, nagy tekintélyű író írta a Budapesti Hírlapban: „ez a német zsidó volt az egyetlen, aki a megjelenése előtt oly soknyelvű ma­gyar Operaházat egységesen nemzeti intézménnyé változtatta át.” A valósággal elűzött művész nem kapott búcsúelő­adást, be sem mehetett az Operaházba, hogy kevés barátjától elbúcsúzzon. A sajtónak ezt a nyilatkozatot adta: „A nagyvilág talán naggyá tett engem is, de én ezt a kis magyar világot szerettem volna nagyvilággá varázsolni”. Némeht Amadé were overshadowed only by personal problems at the Opera House. Mahler presented his Symphony No. 1 on November 19th, 1889, however, it was received with only lukewarm applause. Among a number of less successful first-night performances two premieres were met with considerable appreciation: the opera The Nürnberg Doll by Adam and Aida by Verdi. Mahler conducted Don Giovanni by Mozart by the accompaniment of secco recitativos for the first time in September 1890. The seccos were accompanied on the piano by Mahler himself. After attending one of these performances Johannes Brahms congratulated Mahler enthusiastically. In October of the very same year the intendant of the Opera House Beniczky retired and his successor Géza Zichy could not fit Mahler into his programme. And since he made it impossible for Mahler to direct the Opera House, the artist gave notice. During the 30 months of his direction he arranged premieres of 15 operas and 4 ballets, and re-staged further 11 operas. It was due to him that the Wagner tetralogy was staged and also that the formerly multi-language Hungarian Opera House became a homogeneous national institution. The virtually expelled artist was not granted even a farewell performance and was not allowed to enter the Opera House to say good bye to his few friends. Before he left for Hamburg where he was offered a highly advantageous contract, he took farewell in an open letter stressing the often experienced goodwill of the press. Finally he stated: “The wide world has made me, too, perhaps great but I strived to change this narrow little Hungarian world into a wide world.” History of the Hungarian opera The Royal Hungarian Opera House under the DIRECTION OF GUSTAV MAHLER (1. 10. 1888-1891) OPERAÉLET 1995. SZEPTEMBER - OKTÓBER

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