Hudobný život 3/2023

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INTERVIEW: Björn Schmelzer, WITNESSES OF TIME: Naďa Földváriová, MUSIC THEATER: SND Opera: Svätopluk, State Theater Košice:, State Opera Prague: Clothes Make the Man, STORY: Behind the Scent of the Instrument; Juraj Tomka: Violinist with Viola (in Bed), ANALYSIS: R. Strauss - Alpine Symphony Op. 64, JAZZ: Wayne Shorter, Alan Bartuš, JAZZ LABORATORY: J. Bartoš - solo on Back Home, SHORT STORY: Hyacinth, CONCERTS, FESTIVALS, NEWS: Slovak Philharmonic, Slovak Philharmonic Choir, State Philharmonic Košice, Quasars Ensemble, Ensemble Spectrum, Vienna Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, CD and Publications Reviews.

Anthropologist and musician Björn Schmelzer is fascinated by art that does not belong to any particular era and can be approached freely and autonomously in the passing of time. He encourages us not to be afraid of art that can trigger a "productive" shock or anxiety. We should not remain in false security... "I am convinced that works of art do not belong to the era or world in which they were created. We call them true works of art because they belong nowhere. ... That is why art is fundamentally emancipatory, breaking free from normativity, which also applies to the music of the past. The attempt to demodernize old music means for me to domesticate it, to turn it into 'Gebrauchsmusik.' This is ideologically very suspicious." (B. Schmelzer)

The fifth staging of the opera Svätopluk has already sparked lively debates, and that's good. The four performances in a row attracted an unusually large number of spectators to the SND Opera, which is also pleasing. However, we are reluctant to create a productive shock, and the fifth part is slowing down towards national myths and national artists. And that's a shame. "If the opera slips into stage decoration of music, it ceases to be a theater that demands more than bombastic costumes and one-time ideas for effect without interpretive depth. ... The poetics of the libretto also offers a broader directorial interpretation beyond the realities of Great Moravia. Its confrontation with the dramaturgy of the staging, which would also open up theatrical debate with more recent history, would benefit not only the opus but also the staging and ultimately the audience." (R. Bayer)

Mrs. Naďa Földváriová recently celebrated a very special birthday. The music world is honored to have been able to publish the memories of a lady who has contributed greatly to Slovak music and culture during her active life and now provides testimony from which professionals and ordinary people alike can draw inspiration. One just needs to read it carefully. "For twenty years, they told me, 'Well, then get divorced.' He had a strict ban on everything, so I did too. They even expelled me from the Union after I turned sixty-eight... As far as music was concerned, Western music was not allowed to be played, but everyone was still looking for some records, and we gathered, for example, at Peter Kolman's apartment. The guys called me and said, 'Come on, we're going to play Stockhausen.' That was a big hit. But we couldn't talk about it, we could have been prosecuted." (N. Földváriová)

On a related note, at the time of our deadline, the Minister of Culture is deciding on the selection of a new general director of the Slovak National Theater. In the midst of the commotion surrounding the four candidate names, it has been forgotten that the choice of director for the triple national theater has been exclusively focused on the opera problem. This is well demonstrated by the professional backgrounds of all four candidates, who are essentially referring to their experience in the field of music. And that speaks to the real crisis in the SND Opera, which will not be helped by a new general director, but rather by a new chief of the opera ensemble. Therefore, the position should be filled through a competition, not by appointment.

We have a new design! I believe it will provide you with a more beautiful and focused reading experience on paper. That's what we aimed for when we changed the print version of our magazine. However, we are now fully engaged in working on a full-format internet version, which will bring new dynamics to Hudobný život in the coming months.