Ljubljana Slovene National Theatre Opera and Ballet

The Ljubljana Slovene National Theatre Opera and Ballet (Slovene: Slovensko narodno gledališče Opera in balet Ljubljana, SNG Opera in balet Ljubljana), or shortly Ljubljana SNG Opera and Ballet, is Slovenia's national opera and ballet company. Its seat is the Ljubljana Opera House at 1 Župančič Street (Župančičeva cesta 1) in Ljubljana.^[1][2] The Ljubljana Slovene National Theatre Opera and Ballet was founded in 1918. It is now a subsection of the Slovene National Drama Theatre in Ljubljana (Slovensko narodno gledališče and has about 50 dancers. Since 2013, its director has been the lawyer Peter Sotošek Štular, and its artistic director the opera stage director Rocc (Rok Rappl).

Ljubljana Opera House, built in 1892, seat of the Ljubljana Opera and Ballet Slovene National Theatre

Both SNG and SNT are used. (One is the initials of the name in English; the other is the Slovene initials.)

History

The history of opera in Slovenia goes back to Giuseppe Clemente de Bonomi's Il Tamerlano in 1732. Operas were at first staged in the Provincial Theatre Building at Congress Square, at the site of today's National Philharmonics Building. The Ljubljana Opera House was built in 1892. The Provincial Theatre (Deželno gledališče, the predecessor of the Ljubljana SNG Opera and Ballet, until 1911 shared premises with the German Theatre (German: Deutsches Theater), which then moved to the Ljubljana Drama Theatre.

In 1918, the company was enlarged with its own orchestra and a professional ballet group.^[3][4][5] The conductor Mirko Polič performed Western repertoire as well as Slavic works such as the ballets of the Bulgarian composer Pancho Vladigerov and works of the Slovene composer Marij Kogoj. The current repertoire includes Massenet, Rossini, Mozart, etc.^[6]

See also

• Maribor Slovene National Theatre (SNG Maribor)
• Nova Gorica Slovene National Theatre (SNG Nova Gorica)
• Ljubljana City Theatre (Mestno gledališče ljubljansko, MGL)
• Slovenian Philharmonic
• Cankar Hall, Ljubljana, 10 Prešeren Street
• Križanke Summer Theatre, Ljubljana, 28 Miklosich Street
• Ljubljana Castle, Estate Hall concerts

References

1. Cultural policy in Slovenia Council of Europe. European Programme of National Cultural Policy Reviews, Council of Europe. Council for Cultural Co-operation - 1998 p30
2. Slovenia: the Bradt travel guide Robin McKelvie, Jenny McKelvie - 2008 p62
3. Opera, power and ideology: anthropological study of a national art p57 Vlado Kotnik - 2010 - ... two theatre companies operated in the Ljubljana Opera that had been constructed in 1892: the German Theatre and ... the Ljubljana ensemble, under the full name of the Slovenian National Opera and Ballet Theatre of Ljubljana, ...
4. Ljubljana Nace Šumi - 1980 "The house was inaugurated with the tragedy Veronika of Desenice in 1892. After 1919, the theatre was transferred to the modern secessionist style building (originally meant for the German theatre).
5. History of the literary cultures of East-Central Europe p 7 Marcel Cornis-Pope, John Neubauer - 2007 Ljubljana's theater was inaugurated in 1892 with a Slovene-language play; Slovene and German performances were to alternate, but the Slovenes boycotted the German productions and the Austrian community was forced to build its own theater ...
6. Repertoire Archived 2009-09-02 at the Wayback Machine

External links

• Official site