Divadelní revue (Czech Theatre Review) 2012 · no 2
vol. 23 · October 2012 · no 2Summary
The second issue of 2012's Divadelní revue (Czech Theatre Review) focuses on the various topics related to theatre of the European Enlightenment. Alice Stašková's “Theatre: What For? Defending the Usefulness of the Theatre Institution in 18th-Century Germany” provides a commentary of the development of the argumentation in support of the public theatre in Germany in the 18th century on the basis of influential encyclopedias of the time (J. H. Zedler's and J. G. Sulzer's), as well as selected theoretial treatises of the time. Adolf Scherl summarizes the outcomes of the debate about the Enlightenment performed in the last decades for reconsidering the interpretation of the history of theatre in Bohemia in the second half of the 18th century. The focus is laid upon the penetration of the Enlightenment ideas into the repertoires of the German, as well as Czech theatres, and upon the necessity of the further study of this process across genres. Alena Jakubcová maps the activities of the theatre director Václav Mihule in Northern Moravia and Silesia, as well as in Prešov and Košice (nowadays Eastern Slovakia) between 1800–1808. The treatise analyzes Mihule's correspondence with the authorities and other archival documents, which reveal the enterpreneurial practices of the principal and his reactions to the behaviour of the authorities, the conditions in theatre companies, their rivalries and ways of cooperation. Jiří Mikuláš discusses the harvest-home festival in Bubeneč (neighborhood of Prague), which was a part of 1792 celebrations of coronation of the emperor Franz II and his wife Marie-Therese as Czech king and queen in Prague. Mikuláš focuses on the the key component of music composed for the event by the important Prague composer Vinzenz Maschek (1755– 1831). Marc Niubò examines two Prague productions of Giovanni Paisiello's opera La frascatana: the 1776 production presented by Giuseppe Bustelli's theatre company, and the 1784 production stageded by Pasquale Bondini's company. The study elaborates on historical documents that reveal the as-yet unknown relations between the individual versions of the opera and between the interpreters, as well as adaptations and shifts that bring the opera closer to more traditional dramaturgy. Markéta Klosová's “Monachomacheia or the Scandalous Events in the Mikulov Convent” analyzes the anonymous Latin dramatic text from the verge of the 18th and 19th centuries, the manuscript of which was preserved in the Moravian archive in Brno. The plot of the drama focuses on the sojourn of the Polish Piarist Onuphra Kopczyński in the Mikulov convent, where this supporter of Kościusko's was sent after the failed uprising in his homeland. Jan Bažant's essay explores performative qualities of the frontage of the St. Nicolas Church in Prague's Malá Strana (Lesser Quarter), designed and built by Christoph Dientzenhofer for the Prague Jesuits between the years 1702 and 1711. Tomáš Hlobil's article presents Johann Heinrich Dambeck's (1774–1820) ideas about acting, which he expressed in his lectures held at the Charles University between 1811 and 1820. Unlike earlier analyses, which examined Dambeck's aesthetics only on the grounds of lectures posthumously published by his assistant Joseph Adolf Hanslik (Vol. I in 1822, Vol. II in 1823), Hlobil takes into account Dambeck's opinions included in the manuscript excerpt (prepared by Hanslik in 1819) and in Ludwig Jeittels' obituary (1821). The issue contains an interview with Věra Ptáčková, a renown Czech theatre reviewer and set design historian (prepared by Věra Velemanová), called “Life matters more than science”. Five reviews of recently published books are acompanied with Vladimír Just's reaction to Libor Vodička’s review of his book (published in the Divadelní revue 2012, no 1). In the last section of documents, we bring forward Kateřina Bohadlová's Czech translation of Carlo Gozzi's fiabe The Love for Three Oranges (L'amore delle tre melarance), which is introduced with the translator's foreword.editorial
enlightenment theatre
Alice StaškováTheatre: What For? Defending the Usefulness of the Theatre Institution in 18th-Century Germany
Adolf Scherl
The Development of Theatre in Bohemia During the Enlightenment
Alena Jakubcová
“A good reputation is every person's need – for a theatre director, however, it is a must.” Václav Mihule in Moravia and Silesia Between 1800—1808
Jiří Mikuláš
Harvest-Home Festival in Bubeneč in 1792 as an Open Air Production with Vinzenz Maschek's Music
Marc Niubò
Giovinette semplicette. Towards the Prague versions of La frascatana by G. Paisiello
Markéta Klosová
Monachomacheia or the Scandalous Events in the Mikulov Convent
Tomáš Hlobil
Acting as Pure Creative Art (Reflections on Acting in Johann Heinrich Dambeck’s Aesthetics)
Jan Bažant
The Frontage of the St. Nicolas Church in Prague's Malá Strana as a Theatre Scene
Petra Oulíková
Ad Jan Bažant: The Frontage of the St. Nicolas Church in Prague's Malá Strana as a Theatre Scene
interview
Life matters more than science. An interview with Věra Ptáčková, Set Design Historian (Věra Velemanová)reviews
Dalibor TurečekChallenge and Pitfall of Supersynthesis (Martin Kučera: Kultura v českých dějinách 19. století. Ke zrodu, genezi a smyslu avantgard.)
Josef Förster
Experiment, which went unrewarded, or “Assassination of Czech Readership” (Petr Polehla: Jezuitské divadlo ve službě zbožnosti a vzdělanosti.)
Zdeněk Hořínek
Allienation Effect in Czech (Martina Musilová: Fauefekt: Vlivy Brechtova epického divadla a zcizujícího efektu v českém moderním herectví.)
Lukáš Rieger & Jan Šotkovský
Christ without Evangelists. Reflections on Otomar. Krejča's Book Theatre are Actors (Otomar Krejča: Divadlo jsou herci.)
Věra Velemanová
The Story of Czech Theatre Costume (Věra Ptáčková – Barbora Příhodová – Simona Rybáková: Český divadelní kostým.)
Vladimír Just
Troubles with Facts (ad Libor Vodička, DR 2012, n. 1)
new book releases
documents
Kateřina BohadlováGozzi’s Juice from Fresh Oranges
Carlo Gozzi
Critical Analysis of Gozzi’s Fiabe The Love for Three Oranges (L'amore delle tre melarance)
Resumes of peer-reviewed articles
Alice StaškováTheatre: What For? Defending the Usefulness of the Theatre Institution in 18th-Century Germany
The study provides a commentary of the development of the argumentation in support of the public theatre in Germany in the 18th century on the basis of influential encyclopedias of the time (J. H. Zedler’s and J. G. Sulzer’s), as well as selected theoretial treatises of the time. The focal point of the discussion is the eternal question about the relation of theatre, and the arts at large, to the society. While in the first half of the 18th century the defenders of theatre use primarily the deductive method and leibnitz-wolffian logic, later authors focus on the impact of drama upon the audience. The culmination of the debate about the social usefulness of theatre and the arts is represented by F. Schiller’s essays from the1880 and 1890s.
Adolf Scherl
The Development of Theatre in Bohemia During the Enlightenment
The study summarizes the outcomes of the debate about the Enlightenment performed in the last decades for reconsidering the interpretation of the history of theatre in Bohemia in the second half of the 18th century. The focus is laid upon the penetration of the Enlightenment ideas into the repertoires of the German, as well as Czech theatres, and upon the necessity of the further study of this process across genres. Although theatre in Bohemia did not produce significant and original works of art, the period prepared grounds for further developments of the form. The development of he bilingual (Czech and German) theatre was delayed compared to that of the German theatre, but it still aimed towards the most progressive type of Enlightenment theatre represented by the works of Lessing and Diderot.
Alena Jakubcová
“A good reputation is every person's need – for a theatre director, however, it is a must.” Václav Mihule in Moravia and Silesia Between 1800—1808
The first appointment of Václav Mihule (1758–1808), which he accepted in his early thirties after almost ten years of acting practice abroad, was the Nostiz Theatre in Prague, his native city, where he worked between the years 1790 and 1793. After that he took various appointments in towns and nobility courts in Western Europe. In 1800 he reemerged in northern Moravia and Silesia, and in 1804 he continued to Košice and Prešov, from which he probably maintained contact with Vienna. The last trace that he left is his application for renting a theatre in Znojmo from the year 1808. Mihule’s correspondence with the authorities and other archival documents are a valuable source for the study of the conditions of theatre practice in Moravia and Silesia, as well as of Mihule’s personality. They reveal the enterpreneurial practices of the principal and his reactions to the behaviour of the authorities, the conditions in theatre companies, their rivalries and ways of cooperation.
Jiří Mikuláš
Harvest-Home Festival in Bubeneč in 1792 as an Open Air Production with Vinzenz Maschek's Music
In 1792 the emperor Franz II. and his wife Marie-Therese were enthroned as Czech king and queen in Prague. A part of the coronation celebrations was a harvest-home festival in the nearby Bubeneč, which was attended by the royal couple. The music for the occasion – five pieces altogether – was composed by an important Prague composer Vincenz Maschek (1755–1831). The music, long considered to be lost, was recently discovered in the Czech National Library. Maschek’s music worked as a means of connecting the individual parts of the festival in an organic whole. The festival, serving as an entertainment for the nobility, assuming the positions of passive audience, was conceived as an open air event with a fixed structure, highlighing the rural class, which was presented as the foundation of the happiness of the society.
Marc Niubò
Giovinette semplicette. Towards the Prague versions of La frascatana by G. Paisiello
Paisiello’s La frascatana combines the unusual and fashionably sentimental elements, which contributed to its popularity following its premiere in Venice in 1774. The Prague premiere of La frascatana by G. Bustelli’s theatre company took place in 1776, then it was produced by P. Bondini in 1784. While the first production was considerably faithful to the original, the later followed the version that Bondini saw in Dresden in 1776 and in Vienna in 1775. Historical documents reveal the as-yet unknown relations between the individual versions of the opera and between the interpreters, as well as adaptations and shifts that bring the opera closer to more traditional dramaturgy. Bondini’s version from 1784 was very likely conditioned by the casting possibilities of the company, as well as by its dramaturgical and repertoire priorities.
Markéta Klosová
Monachomacheia or the Scandalous Events in the Mikulov Convent
The study discusses the anonymous Latin dramatic text from the verge of the 18th and 19th centuries, the manuscript of which was preserved in the Moravian archive in Brno. The plot of the drama focuses on the sojourn of the Polish Piarist Onuphra Kopczyński in the Mikulov convent, where this supporter of Kościusko’s was sent after the failed uprising in his homeland. Kopczyński, the main character of the drama, defends himself against the allegations by the abbott, whose task was to monitor and report on him to the Austrian authorities. The text, displaying a conspicuous apologetical tone, was aimed at the Czech and Moravian audiences.
Tomáš Hlobil
Acting as Pure Creative Art (Reflections on Acting in Johann Heinrich Dambeck’s Aesthetics)
The study presents Johann Heinrich Dambeck's (1774–1820) ideas about acting, which he expressed in his lectures held at the Charles University between 1811 and 1820. Unlike earlier analyses, which examined Dambeck’s aesthetics only on the grounds of lectures posthumously published by his assistant Joseph Adolf Hanslik (Vol. I in 1822, Vol. II in 1823), the article takes into account Dambeck's opinions included in the manuscript excerpt (prepared by Hanslik in 1819) and in Ludwig Jeittels' obituary (1821). Comparison of both resources reveales that the obituary developed and broadened two rather philosphical theses included in the manuscript and the book – observations on reproductive nature of acting and inseperability of a dramatic-theatre character from the corporeal and spiritual constitution of an actor. In the obituary, both topics are closely related and thorougly confronted with Dambeck's general aesthetic characterization of art. The chosen approach resulted in the notion of acting as art of pure creativity, which significantly follows Dambeck's artistic and aesthetic ideals. Acting acquires this exceptional quality not against the dramatic text, but as a result of the predetermination provided by dramatic text. Thus, it is the dramatic text that stimulates and forces an actor to suppress, transgress, and abandon his own self in order to appropriate the self of a portrayed character.
Jan Bažant
The Frontage of the St. Nicolas Church in Prague's Malá Strana as a Theatre Scene
The frontage of the St. Nicolas Church in Prague’s Malá Strana was designed and built by Christopher Diezenhofer for the Prague Jesuits between the years 1702 and 1711. The closest analogy of the balcony on the frontage of the St. Nicolas Church in Malá Strana is the terrace in front of the Jesuit church Am Hof in Vienna, built some time after 1657. Diezenhofer adopted specifically one important feature of the Vienna church, that is, the wings at the sides of the balcony. The wings, which are only indicated on the Prague church, can possibly be bearers of meaning, since at the time they were a generally used attribute of theatre architecture. The fully developed wings were used for the first time at the Teatro Farnese in Parma, Italy, built in the years 1616–1617. The theatre in Parma served as a prototype for the frontage of the Jesuit church in Vienna, and consequently for the Prague St. Nicolas church in Malá Strana. Theatre was an indispensable component of baroque religious sensibility, especially the Jesuit one, and it is, therefore, likely that the frontage of the church was, indeed, meant as a theatre scene.