There are two types of children’s operas in the world literature: operas written on the topic of fairytales and stories about children, they are from the children’s world, but they are performed by adults, sung by professional singers and set on official world’s stages as serious operas.  

Second type of operas and much rarer are those performed by children and their librettos are appropriate to children’s world, thus musical demands have completely different characteristics, they are  appropriate to voices and abilities of children, their need to express themselves musically. 
The music, composed by a long- time conductor of the choir “Kir Stefan Serb” from Smederevo, Milan T. Ilic, is simple, tuneful and consists of a series of children’s tunes in the frame of rounded songs. The music is written in bounds of children performing it, there are plenty of signs and sounds of our folklore, but applied and tastefully processed, so that they become close to sources, but close to children as well. For a while it is a country diphthong and then a quiet melody in national spirit, for a while the national instrument can be heard and then only a drum conjures a rural idyll. 
In nowadays flood of trash and kitsch, the freshness of this music that supports humorous, ecological and educative values, told in verses and lyrics, represents an innovation in our musical heritage, the new approach to composing music for children and an attempt to make it interactive, which are the modern requirements of today. Children in the audience are called many times to give an active support to the performers on the stage and to participate in the performance through upgrading the same. Rhythmic components of the score, elaborated in the orchestra as well, are particularly close to the children’s world, but also to some modern methods in nowadays pop and rock music. The joy of children who take part in the project is the best guarantee of its value. 

PhD Branka Radovic 

return to opera Nettle, Nettle

When it is unpleasant, with prickles, nobody likes it their vicinity. However, nettle is a symbol of perseverance, endurance, the plant that was first to spring up after the two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki had been hit by atomic bomb in World War II, in 1945.
The plant that stings in touch with hands and body, but also the healing one, used as tea, for curing plenty of illnesses and it is also used in cosmetic for making hair shampoos.
If someone does not like eating and his mother always reproaches him for that, then he must be given nettles, prepared in various ways, to his improve his blood count.
In each class there is a pupil who does not communicate easily with others, stands out, rebels when joint actions are undertaken, does not socialize and the rest of the children often get away from him, as from the nettle, since he is arrogant, rude, wants to fight and shows no emotions. However, such a friend, non- friend, often hides some of his fears and does not show any kindness or sensitivity that he very often owns. You need a lot love and patience to turn him from “stinging nettle”, the plant that makes you stings in touch, into a healing herb, to make him show his nature of humanity. Friends should help in doing that, since it is the measure of friendship. 
The verses of Mosa Odalovic, a poet from Smederevo and Budimir Nesic are sung in special songs and the prose script is written by the director, Ivica Klemenc.

return to opera Nettle, Nettle                                                                                                                                                    

„I stripped the subject bare, choosing not to conceal it behind the sparkle of crystal and gilt. After all, you can sell yourself on the street just as well as at society soirees, and the former is more common than the latter. Violetta’s Dream meets with a reality that is, in fact, more brutal and cynical than her actual life. To all appearances a world of opulence, so attractive and out of reach, bogged down in the prostitution of human relationships. Her attempt to reach out to this world becomes a horrific, phantasmagoric nightmare. As with The Rape of Lucretia we tore down the fourth wall, setting the space free“
                                                     Director Yuri Alexandrov

return to opera La Traviata

Jacques Ibert (1890-1962) is a French composer from the first half of the 20th century. He studied in Paris where he won the Prix Rome, but being friendly with Honeger (Arthur Honeger) and Mijo (Darius Mihaud) did not accept their relationship with regard to music but wrote, in not a very original style, a great number of well known compositions for wind instruments. Ibert took part in revival of the French instrumental music in the first half of the 20th century, cultivating a kind of melange-style, reaching out for numerous influences, having an excuisite technique, but not taking place in avant-gard innovations of his time. Many defined his style as eclectic, wishing in this way to point out lack of originality and leaning primarily on Ravel (Joseph-Maurice Ravel) and his stylistic gama. The influences of jazz were not alien to him but academicism was primarily shown together with Gaelic refinement, elegance and drawing-room spirit. He wrote a series of stage works, operas and operettas such as Perseus and Andromeda, King of Iveto, Goncag Eaglet (with Honeger), Little Cardinal (collaboration with Honeger), ballets Diana of Poatie and Knight Errant as well as a series of orchestra, concerto, chamber and piano compositions. 

Comic opera Angelique originated in 1926. With the language, style and expression, it shows a lot of characteristics and manners of Ibert’s musical expressions. In the opera, in addition to the arias and ensembles, he used spoken passages, recitals as well as a speaking choir, however, those orchestra parts founded on wind instrument participation are highl y successful. In the language which includes numerous styles and trends, Ibert reaches out even for jazz and in melange manner he tries to characterize different nationalities of Angelique’s customers and suitors. So the Italian, the Englishman and the Negro get leitmotives which differentiate them through music. The concept of the opera was both farce and parody, it is elegant but also impudent, academically formulated but ironical as well, sarcastic at times, never leaving out the good taste which was the composer’s main concern.

return to opera Angelique

The ballet Wolfgang Amadé shows in an artistic way – by dance, music, scenography, costumes and contemporary scenic solutions, turning points of life and work of the music genius from Salzburg, the artist who liked best to be called by the name – Wolfgang Amadé. The ballet has two acts, with a Prologue and an Epilogue, and starts with a masquerade in the presence of the most distinguished persons and artists of Mozart’s time. It is continued with the scenes from the Court, the encounters of Mozart and Austro-Hungarian emperor, the meeting and conflict with a renowned composer Antonio Sallieri, with review and memory of his past life. Wolfgang Amadé  is ended with a legend in which Mozart survives as a special FAVORITE OF GODS, BUT OF PEOPLE TOO – till the present days!

On 29th May, on the Bel Etage stage of the Opera & Theatre MADLENIANUM, on the occasion of the premiere of the ballet, there was opened an exhibition of some ten large size works of the painter Christian Attersee, thus enriching the premiere with another artistic event, and elevating the participation of Madlenianum in the marking of 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. 

The authors of this ballet and a very successful performance at the Vienna State Opera Ballet, realized eight years ago, as well as already confirmed selection of the best soloists of Belgrade Ballet, performing and the premiere, are a firm guarantee that we have created an exceptional art work that will represent our milieu in the celebration of Mozart’s jubilee.

return to ballet Wolfgang Amadé

Serbian Musicological Society (SMS) was founded on 5th July 2006, and in the same year on 25th December it was registered as a scientific society. 
In the very beginning of 2007 SMS began their activities, with the main goal to promote Serbian musical and musicological creativity in the country and abroad. Organizing series of concerts with the key works of Serbian professional music has its place among their different activities. The series is entitled the Anthological Works of Serbian Music, with the aim to, out of always conceptually and program profiled musicological corner, show in an adequate way all significant meridians of our artistic music. 

The third concert of the series is actually a musical-scenic project done by MSM in cooperation with Madlenianum Opera and Theatre, but in organizational, professional and financial terms. The Projec involves two ballet performances in the choreography of Aleksandar Ilic, at the original music by Serbian composers, Miloje Milojevic (The Valet’s Broom ballet) and Dusan Radic (Ballad of the Stray Moon).

Ballets are to be performed within the 9th Belgrade Dance Festival.

Dr. Mirjana Veselinovic-Hofman

The President of Serbian Musicological Society 

Not only the drawn undertakings, referring to heritage and Serbian tradition in the opera and ballet domain, are among the program goals of our house, but they are continually being implemented. Besides the opera by Ivan Jevtic, “Mandragola”, in cooperation with the Musicological Society, with the Belgrade Dance Festival we also set two Serbian ballets, fundamentals in Serbian music as well as in the national ballet development. Particularly significant is our cooperation with the scientific society that throughout its activities expresses an obligation, willingness and necessity to preserve and revitalize the heritage. We want to continue and deepen the cooperation on mutual satisfaction, trying in joint work to achieve all we have owed to our country’s culture. 

Dr. Branka Radovic
General Manager of Madlenianum Opera and Theatre

return to ballet Two serbian ballets

Ballet grotesque The Valet’s Broom / Le balai du valet by Miloje Milojevic (1884–1946) was for the first time performed at the Ball 1002 Night, having been held on the premises of the Hotel Kasina on 16th February 1923. The whole spectacle was the first in the line of thematic balls, organized on the occasion of raising funds for building the Art Pavilion Cvijeta Zuzoric and besides Milojevic’s ballet it also included the exhibition, costume ball and variety program. Numerous artists, writers, musicians, dancers and actors of different generations and esthetic opinions took part in that multi-artistic project, all gathered in a mutual rebellion against artistic canons and conventional division into “classical” and “popular” values of culture and life. Ball “1002 Night” Poster from 1923.

Their subversion was close to the activities of Parisian avant-garde artists, who were surprising the world with their experiments. That was testified by different segments of Belgrade ball, from the interior project “a la mode cubisme, art no?negre et cinéma“ to the ballet grotesque, which besides Milojevic, was created by Marko Ristic, as the text writer, Aleksandar Deroko, the scenography author and Klavdija Isacenko and Jelena Poljakova, as choreographers.

According to Ristic’s text the work of art is a “psychological ballet of dream and reality” about happenings in the “poet’s mind” out of which flows the range of personalities and situations, directed towards the identity search in the sphere of poetic deformation of reality. Presented in analogy with a film framing technique, the content and formal structure of the text negate a dynamic continuity of thought process have largely induced Milojevic to experiment in ways, atypical for his work. In creative closeness with the works of French “The Six” and especially with Erik Satie’s ballet Parade, the composer enters into combining of audio, visual and verbal medium, and he lifts the collage technique procedures to the level of esthetic and forming principle of the work. He easily makes distance towards citation and simulation of the music of romanticism, impressionism and commercialized forms of popular culture of that period- waltz, foxtrot and sevdah songs. Either approaching them intentionally, as to finished objects in their inadequate sound surrounding, or parodying them with his music interventions and textual remarks, he negates conventions and accomplishes new sound combinations, but with clear non-musical implications ranging from joke and irony to grotesque and persiflage. Milojevic gives himself up to critical heart-searching as well, making distance from aesthetics and creative sense of most of his own works, showing another, but displaced and excessive face of his stylistically heterogeneous opus. Supplementing the very Ristic’s text with new dimensions of identity searching, Milojevic rounds up an experiment that, as a part of critical rebellion of Belgrade ball spectacle, has remained to give evidence about early avant-garde achievements of Serbian art, creatively current in international proportions. 

M.Sc. Biljana Milanovic, musicologist 

return to ballet Two serbian ballets

Sreda, 18. decembar 2013. u 18.00
Velika scena Madlenianuma

13. izvođenje

Libreto: Emanuel Šikaneder

(skraćena verzija)

Umetnički rukovodilac: Stanko Jovanović
Klavirska saradnja: Vladimir Gligorić
Flauta: Ana Radoičić
Inscenacija i režija: Ana Radivojević-Zdravković
Dramaturg i asistent reditelja: Tadija Miletić
Scenograf: Ilija Višnjić
Kostimograf: Jelena Antanasijević
Izvršni producent: Andreja Rackov

uloge:

Kraljica noći...........................Irina Dragojević
Sarastro, veliki sveštenik....... Sava Vemić                                    
Pamina, njena ćerka.............. Olivera Tičević
Princ Tamino......................... Tibor Heveši
Papageno, čovek-ptica.......... Pavle Žarkov
Papagena...............................Branislava Podrumac
Tri dame Kraljice noći............Sonja Pana                                                                                           
                                              Marijana Radosavljević
                                              Marčela Frančesko
Tri dečaka..............................Aleksandra Anđelković
                                     Jana Momirović
                                              Jovana Bijelić
Devojčice...............................Ksenija Repić
                                     Kristina Bojić (violina)

Inspicijent: Vesna Ćurčić-Petrović
Vokalni pedagozi: Tanja Obrenović, Nenad Nenić
Muzička priprema: Vladimir Gligorić, Jelena Šiljeg

Dizajn svetla: Miloš Nešić · Regulacija svetla: Vladimir Krunić · Realizacija zvuka: Dušan Arsikin
Realizacija videa: Zvonimir Jelušić · Sufleri: Zorica Popović, Kristina Jocić, Silvija Pec
Majstor pozornice: Milan Ćirić · Šminka i frizure: Mirjana Rakić
Garderoba: Tanja Vuksanović i Miladin Pavićević