The Nightingale of Gorenjska

Anton Foerster The Nightingale of Gorenjska Opera in Two Acts Premiere 13th March 2013 Lenght: 2 hours with one intermission The Slovene Dramatic Society and the Slovene Provincial Theatre were important not only for the growth of Slovene dramatic production in the second half of the 19th century, but also for encouraging the development of domestic musical stage works. It is impossible to imagine the work of composer Anton Foerster without them. Czech by birth, Foerster came to Slovenia in 1867 and remained there until his death. He was active not only in the Dramatic Society, but also served as regens chori at Ljubljana Cathedral and taught music at various schools. As a composer, he created numerous orchestral, vocal, and sacred works. He is remembered above all as the author of the first Slovene national opera. The Nightingale of Upper Carniola (Gorenjski slavček) was originally conceived as an operetta in response to a competition organized by the Dramatic Society, which offered two prizes each for an operetta and a libretto. The jury, consisting of Bedřich Smetana, Karel Bendl, and Ljudevit Procházka, awarded first place to Foerster. Under his direction, The Nightingale of Upper Carniola was first performed on April 27, 1872, at the Provincial Theatre. Twenty years later, Foerster decided to transform the operetta into an opera. The libretto by Luiza Pesjak was revised by Czech librettist Emanuel Züngl, while Foerster composed several additional musical numbers and replaced the spoken dialogue with recitatives. The opera premiered on October 30, 1896. In later years, The Nightingale of Upper Carniola underwent further revisions and additions, as critics felt the opera had certain weaknesses. Nevertheless, Smetana had already noted in his assessment that the work possessed fresh melodies, imagination, skillful harmonization, and effective orchestration. The opera repeatedly returned to the repertoire of the Ljubljana Opera. The most recent production, staged in