Zagreb at the operatic crossroads in the 1860s: the winding road towards the national opera

Vjera Katalinić

Abstract

During the 1860s, Zagreb did not have a steady operatic ensemble, although its preparatory stage was already in existence within the drama department of the National Theatre, when – from 1863 – operettas were performed by a small theatre orchestra. However, the National Theatre as an institution exist from 1861 on, and the theatre building, erected in 1834 and owned by the City Municipality from 1852 on, was continuously housing opera companies from abroad, mostly from within the Habsburg and later (since 1867) Austro-Hungarian Empire, coming prevailingly from its Italian provinces. The article offers a brief outline of the theatre organisation as well as an overview of various foreign companies, coming from Hungarian, Austrian and Italian towns, their repertoires (mostly Italian, with sporadically German and Hungarian pieces) and their reception as reflected in Zagreb’s German and Croatian press. It also points at the importance of local music education and of Croatian pieces that were produced in Zagreb during that period, following the advancement of national strivings that finally led to the foundation of the permanent opera company in 1870.