The Prague Provisional Theatre (Czech: Prozatímní divadlo, Czech pronunciation: [ˈprozaciːmɲiː ˈɟɪvadlo]) was erected in 1862 as a temporary home for Czech drama and opera until a permanent National Theatre could be built. It opened on 18 November 1862 and functioned for 20 years, during which time over 5,000 performances were presented. Between 1866 and 1876 the theatre staged the premieres of four of Bedřich Smetana's operas, including The Bartered Bride. The Provisional Theatre building was eventually incorporated into the structure of the National Theatre, which opened its doors on 11 June 1881.
Jan Nepomuk Maýr, first Principal Conductor of the Prague Provisional Theatre
Before the early 1860s almost all cultural institutions in Prague, including theatre and opera, were in Austrian hands. Bohemia was a province of the Habsburg Empire, and under that regime's absolutist rule most aspects of Czech culture and national life had been discouraged or suppressed.[1] Absolutism was formally abolished by a decree of the Emperor Franz Josef on 20 October 1860, which led to a Czech cultural revival.[2] The Bohemian Diet (parliament) had acquired a site in Prague on the banks of the Vltava, and in 1861 announced a public subscription, which raised a sum of 106,000 florins.[2] This covered the costs of building a small 800-seat theatre,[3] which would act as a home for production of Czech drama and opera while longer-term plans for a permanent National Theatre could be implemented.[4] The Provisional Theatre opened on 18 November 1862, with a performance of Vítězslav Hálek's tragic drama King Vukašín.[5] Since there was at the time no Czech opera deemed suitable, the first opera performed at the theatre, on 20 November 1862, was Cherubini's Les deux journées.[5] For the first year or so of its life, the Provisional Theatre alternated opera with straight plays on a daily basis, but from the start of 1864 opera performances were given daily.[5]
History
Bedřich Smetana, who succeeded Maýr as Principal Conductor, and was in turn succeeded by him
The first principal conductor (or musical director) of the Provisional Theatre, appointed in the autumn of 1862, was Jan Nepomuk Maýr – to the disappointment of Smetana, who had hoped for the position himself.[5] Maýr held the position until September 1866; his tenure was marked by a professional rivalry with Smetana, who criticised the theatre's conservatism and failure to fulfil its mission to promote Czech opera.[6] Maýr retaliated by refusing to conduct Smetana's The Brandenburgers in Bohemia.[7] A change in the theatre's management in 1866 led to Maýr's removal and replacement by Smetana, who held the post for eight years.[8][9] Maýr's bias in favour of Italian opera was replaced by Smetana's more balanced repertoire, which mixed Italian, German and French pieces with such Slavonic and Czech works as he could find.[10] Apart from his own compositions (The Bartered Bride, The Brandenburgers in Bohemia and Dalibor, Smetana introduced works by the Czech composers Lepold Eugen Měchura and Josef Rozkošný,[10] but was nevertheless attacked by some parts of the music establishment for giving insufficient encouragement to native talent. Efforts to remove him from his post, and to reinstate Maýr, were unsuccessful.[11]
Smetana was responsible for the establishment of an independent school attached to the theatre. He became the school's director and professor of theory.[12] However, in 1874 Smetana became afflicted with deafness, which forced him to yield his duties as principal conductor to his assistant Adolf Čech, and to resign his post later that year.[13] Maýr was reappointed to the conductorship;[14] he had no interest in the school, which subsequently closed.[12] The Provisional Theatre continued as the main venue for Czech opera, several of Antonín Dvořák's works being premiered there.[15] In 1881 the theatre was incorporated into the Czech National Theatre building,[16] which opened on 11 June.[17] Shortly thereafter the new building was badly damaged by fire and remained closed for two years.[18] During this period the Provisional Theatre continued to operate, using other theatre premises. During its lifetime the Provisional theatre mounted more than 5,000 performances.[9]
provisional, theatre, prague, prague, provisional, theatre, czech, prozatímní, divadlo, czech, pronunciation, ˈprozaciːmɲiː, ˈɟɪvadlo, erected, 1862, temporary, home, czech, drama, opera, until, permanent, national, theatre, could, built, opened, november, 186. The Prague Provisional Theatre Czech Prozatimni divadlo Czech pronunciation ˈprozaciːmɲiː ˈɟɪvadlo was erected in 1862 as a temporary home for Czech drama and opera until a permanent National Theatre could be built It opened on 18 November 1862 and functioned for 20 years during which time over 5 000 performances were presented Between 1866 and 1876 the theatre staged the premieres of four of Bedrich Smetana s operas including The Bartered Bride The Provisional Theatre building was eventually incorporated into the structure of the National Theatre which opened its doors on 11 June 1881 Prague Provisional Theatre on historic painting Contents 1 Origins 2 History 3 Notes and references 4 SourcesOrigins Edit Jan Nepomuk Mayr first Principal Conductor of the Prague Provisional Theatre Before the early 1860s almost all cultural institutions in Prague including theatre and opera were in Austrian hands Bohemia was a province of the Habsburg Empire and under that regime s absolutist rule most aspects of Czech culture and national life had been discouraged or suppressed 1 Absolutism was formally abolished by a decree of the Emperor Franz Josef on 20 October 1860 which led to a Czech cultural revival 2 The Bohemian Diet parliament had acquired a site in Prague on the banks of the Vltava and in 1861 announced a public subscription which raised a sum of 106 000 florins 2 This covered the costs of building a small 800 seat theatre 3 which would act as a home for production of Czech drama and opera while longer term plans for a permanent National Theatre could be implemented 4 The Provisional Theatre opened on 18 November 1862 with a performance of Vitezslav Halek s tragic drama King Vukasin 5 Since there was at the time no Czech opera deemed suitable the first opera performed at the theatre on 20 November 1862 was Cherubini s Les deux journees 5 For the first year or so of its life the Provisional Theatre alternated opera with straight plays on a daily basis but from the start of 1864 opera performances were given daily 5 History Edit Bedrich Smetana who succeeded Mayr as Principal Conductor and was in turn succeeded by him The first principal conductor or musical director of the Provisional Theatre appointed in the autumn of 1862 was Jan Nepomuk Mayr to the disappointment of Smetana who had hoped for the position himself 5 Mayr held the position until September 1866 his tenure was marked by a professional rivalry with Smetana who criticised the theatre s conservatism and failure to fulfil its mission to promote Czech opera 6 Mayr retaliated by refusing to conduct Smetana s The Brandenburgers in Bohemia 7 A change in the theatre s management in 1866 led to Mayr s removal and replacement by Smetana who held the post for eight years 8 9 Mayr s bias in favour of Italian opera was replaced by Smetana s more balanced repertoire which mixed Italian German and French pieces with such Slavonic and Czech works as he could find 10 Apart from his own compositions The Bartered Bride The Brandenburgers in Bohemia and Dalibor Smetana introduced works by the Czech composers Lepold Eugen Mechura and Josef Rozkosny 10 but was nevertheless attacked by some parts of the music establishment for giving insufficient encouragement to native talent Efforts to remove him from his post and to reinstate Mayr were unsuccessful 11 Smetana was responsible for the establishment of an independent school attached to the theatre He became the school s director and professor of theory 12 However in 1874 Smetana became afflicted with deafness which forced him to yield his duties as principal conductor to his assistant Adolf Cech and to resign his post later that year 13 Mayr was reappointed to the conductorship 14 he had no interest in the school which subsequently closed 12 The Provisional Theatre continued as the main venue for Czech opera several of Antonin Dvorak s works being premiered there 15 In 1881 the theatre was incorporated into the Czech National Theatre building 16 which opened on 11 June 17 Shortly thereafter the new building was badly damaged by fire and remained closed for two years 18 During this period the Provisional Theatre continued to operate using other theatre premises During its lifetime the Provisional theatre mounted more than 5 000 performances 9 Notes and references Edit Steen p 697 a b Large pp 114 15 Steen p 698 Clapham pp 32 33 a b c d Large pp 124 25 Large p 136 Large p 144 Large p 167 a b Ottlova Marta Smetana Bedrich Grove Music Online ed Laura Macy Archived from the original on 1 June 2013 Retrieved 12 May 2009 subscription required a b Large pp 207 08 Large pp 233 38 a b Large pp 206 07 Clapham pp 41 42 Large p 246 The historical development of Czech theatre Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Archived from the original on 30 April 2009 Retrieved 17 July 2009 The National Theatre Narodni divaldo Retrieved 17 July 2009 Large p 221 Steen p 702Sources EditClapham John 1972 Smetana Master Musicians series London J M Dent ISBN 0 460 03133 3 Large Brian 1970 Smetana London Duckworth ISBN 0 7156 0512 7 The National Theatre Narodni divaldo Retrieved 17 July 2009 Ottlova Marta Smetana Bedrich Grove Music Online ed Laura Macy Archived from the original on 1 June 2013 Retrieved 12 May 2009 subscription required Steen Michael 2003 The Lives and Times of the Great Composers London Icon Books ISBN 978 1 84046 679 9 The historical development of Czech theatre Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Archived from the original on 30 April 2009 Retrieved 17 July 2009 Coordinates 50 04 51 N 14 24 49 E 50 0807 N 14 4136 E 50 0807 14 4136 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Provisional Theatre Prague amp oldid 1109498852, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
