Die Umwertung der Idee der Nationaloper um 1900

Mesterházi, Máté (2011) Die Umwertung der Idee der Nationaloper um 1900. Studia Musicologica, 52 (1-4). pp. 95-107. ISSN 1788-6244

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Abstract

The years immediately following the Austro-Hungarian Compromise (1867) would politically have been the best time to make Bánk bán, Ferenc Erkel’s most important opera known in Vienna, thus launching his work in the German cultural area. However, the plot of Bánk bán and Erkel’s personal attitude regarding the Compromise were probably at that time too much of a sensitive issue. In terms of cultural policy the International Exhibition of Music and Theatre at the end of the 19^th century could have presented itself as an opportunity to premiere it in Vienna. Instead, Katona’s Bánk bán was presented. One could have expected that Gustav Mahler would stage Bánk bán at the Vienna Court Opera, as he did Dalibor at the beginning of his period as artistic director. Apparently Mahler did never even consider the idea of its staging which may have been connected with both his personal tastes and the unfavourable memories he had of Budapest. The success of Smetana’s Dalibor in winning a wide recognition on German stages around 1900 as opposed to Erkel’s neglect, may partly be explained by its post-Wagnerian musical language. However, since in the meantime opera houses have again been conquered by Italian belcanto and French grand opéra — the two main operatic styles from which Erkel took his inspiration — stylistic reasons clearly cannot explain why his work remains internationally unknown up to this day. One of the reasons for the lack of success may very well be the over-emphasizing by its Hungarian partisans of the opera’s national qualities instead of its inherent dramatic values.

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