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Article Excerpt
In 1770 and 1772 the English music historian Charles Burney travelled through Europe in search of a better understanding of the musical culture of different lands on which to base his History of Music. On his journeys he visited the Bohemian Lands, and expressed surprise at the musicality of the population there and its knowledge of instrumental play. In these circumstances it is no wonder that the catch-phrase "Every Czech is a musician" dates back to the 18th century when music and musicians were major "export items" for Bohemia and the country had the reputation of being the "conservatory of Europe".
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In this small survey we shall try to show the situation in the "conservatory of Europe" today. 17 years after the fall of the totalitarian regime and the return of the Czech Republic to the ranks of democratic states, we shall try to suggest how these political and social changes have influenced music theatre--opera. Even for the visitor to the Czech Republic today, especially the overseas visitor, the breadth and intensity of opera production in the Czech Republic can come as a surprise. The sophisticated opera-lover may sometimes have reservations about its quality, but can hardly be dissatisfied with its quantity and accessibility.
The Network of Opera Companies
The Czech Republic can boast one of the most concentrated national networks of opera companies proportionate to surface area (78.860 [km.sup.2]), and population (10 mil.). Ten professional companies regularly present operas. They are the National Theatre and the State Opera in Prague, the National Theatre in Brno and Ostrava, and opera companies in Plzen, Olomouc, Ceske Budejovice, Usti nad Labem, Liberec and Opava. All the theatres outside Prague are easily reached from the capital within a few hours by public transport or by car, and so in practice you can attend any opera performance in the CR and get back to Prague without having to find somewhere to stay for the night.
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The spine of this basic opera network dates back to the 19th century and Austro-Hungarian times. It is the result of long-term historical development and despite various changes of ownership and name in the case of individual theatres, it has survived and serves its purpose to this day. One very important aspect of the historical birth and development of permanent theatres/opera houses and their organisational structure was the co-existence of ethnic Czech and German communities in the country, and so we need to make a distinction between opera on Bohemian territory as such and the different Czech and German companies that operated on it. Before the First World War independent Czech opera companies existed in parallel with German companies in Prague, Brno and Plzen. In other towns the opera was German-run and Czech opera productions were either not staged at all or were allocated a limited number of dates in the German opera houses. Following the establishment of the independent Czechoslovak state in 1918, Ostrava and Olomouc joined the first wave of permanent Czech opera houses by setting up their own. The development of the Czech opera network culminated with the end of the Second World War and the post-war expulsion of the German community. The originally German theatres in Liberec, Usti nad Labem, Opava and later in Ceske Budejovice were taken under Czech management, definitively ending the tradition of parallel opera programmes in two languages.
The post-war decades of "building socialism" in Czechoslovakia brought no fundamental change as far as the extent of the theatre/opera house network was concerned. For example, repeated attempts to set up an opera house in East Bohemia, particularly in Hradec Kralove, ended in failure. Of course, the theatre network was nationalised and the content of theatre and opera productions and repertoire changed radically, culture in the country was brought under the total control of the state and subjected to strict ideological censorship intended to prevent the penetration of "western" opera influences and new trends in production. The theatres were relatively well funded by the state, because culture was supposed to be the "shop window" of socialist successes.
After the fall of the regime in 1989 the scale of the opera network remained unaffected. Despite a wave of stormy debate especially in the mid-nineties no local authority abolished an opera house, but nor did any authority set up a new one. The Prague State Opera, which has been operating independently since 1992, is not in reality a newly founded company, but a company that came into existence by being separated off from the National Theatre complex.
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Opera Companies as Part of Theatre Complexes
Theatres are administrated by statutory local municipal authorities, apart from the two Prague theatres with opera companies administrated by the state through the Ministry of Culture. In legal terms they are publicly-funded organisations with power over their own budgets. The local authorities appoint the directors and provide basic funding. The director then appoints the heads of the individual companies. The opera companies have their own permanent orchestras which also perform for the theatre's ballet productions and occasionally give concerts of their own. They do not offer continuous concert cycles, which in the larger towns are usually provided by the local independent symphony orchestras. While Czech musicians predominate in the opera orchestras, in terms of nationality their composition is diverse, and more and more musicians from countries to the east of the Czech Republic are joining them. The situation is the same with choirs. The companies also have their own workrooms. With the increasing trend towards temporary contracts, the engagement of guest artists and external collaboration it would seem that the previously almost impenetrable walls surrounding core ensembles (ensured by permanent contracts not only for conductors but also for soloists, directors and stage designers) are breaking down--to the benefit of the diversity and quality of productions.
A tripartite pattern, with theatres having opera, theatre and ballet companies under a single managerial and physical roof, continues to be the norm among theatres. There are, however, exceptions--the Prague State Opera and the Usti na Labem theatre have no drama companies (in Prague there are a number of theatres devoted to spoken drama and in Usti nad Labem spoken drama has a separate institutional structure). In Ceske Budejovice a marionette company is part of the South Bohemian Theatre. In Plzen and Ostrava the theatres have operetta companies in addition to the others, while in the larger cities of Prague and Brno this genre is presented by specialised theatres and in the smaller towns operetta productions are part of the repertoire of the opera companies.
Funding
Public sources (state and local authorities) provide around three-quarters of the funding for theatre activities. The degree of self-sufficiency of theatres (calculated in terms of the ratio of own earnings to the non-investment costs) has been successively rising and today it is on average 33%, but as much as a half in the case of some opera companies (the Prague State Opera). It is estimated that every ticket is effectively subsidised to the tune of an average 500 crowns. Ticket prices for ordinary opera productions vary from 50 to 2.000 crowns, and the larger the town the higher the prices.
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On average every second citizen of the CR (i.e. 5 million people) attends a theatre performance once a year. All the theatres have regular subscription schemes--or season tickets--offering discounts and other advantages for subscribers who can choose between cards valid for different periods, for specific ensembles, genres or age groups, or cards covering all productions on the frequent-theatregoer principle. Ordinary tickets can now be purchased via the Internet and not only at the theatre box offices.
In addition to box office earnings, companies derive some income from hire of their premises and other economic activities. Tours are not only artistically important but economically significant. The opera companies of the National Theatre in Prague and Brno, but also for example the Plzen Opera, are regularly invited for a month's tour of Japan. The Opera of the National Theatre has been a guest more than once at the Savonlinna Festival in Finland, and opera companies also make one-off guest appearances, mainly in Germany.
Companies are also trying to obtain money in the form of Ministry of Culture grants or other economic programmes, European Union Funds and from the regional authorities as well, arguing that opera companies play for audiences from the whole region. Managements are turning theatres into prestigious social centres in towns and regions and are striving for sponsorship support. Another way of improving the bank balance is of course to make savings, whether by reducing the number of employees and exploiting external services or by looking for co-productions with companies at home and abroad and other partners. Overall, however, the companies are clearly involved in a struggle with minimal budgets, which on the one hand is a spur to creativity, but on the other hand often leads to tolerance of halfway solutions, carelessness and even sheer sloppiness,...
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