The Croatian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc in Rijeka (Croatian: Hrvatsko narodno kazalište Ivana pl. Zajca Rijeka. Italian: Teatro Nazionale Croato Ivan de Zajc), commonly referred to as HNK Zajc, is a theatre, opera and ballet house located in Rijeka.
Overview
The theater tradition in Rijeka is longer than two centuries. The first theater building in this city was erected in 1765, but at the end of the 18th century the construction of the new theater began, which opened in 1805 by renowned Rijeka citizen and trader
Andrea Lodovico Adamich. Over the next 80 years the theater life in Rijeka took place in Theater Adamich, filled mostly by performances of Italian and less by German opera and drama groups. However, in the late 19th century several European theaters struck a fire, and in all the cities of the
Habsburg monarchy
The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...
began to take safety precautions, and Adamich Theatre did not meet the necessary conditions for normal operation. Rijeka municipal dealership decided to demolish the existing theater and build a brand new, modern and contemporary theater to suit Central European standards. In 1883 Rijeka city government, led by the famous mayor
Giovanni Ciotta, the grandson of another legendary Lodovico Adamich, decided to raise a grand new theater building of Rijeka. It was decided that the theater will be built on what was then a vast Ürmeny square. The project was commissioned in Vienna, in a specialized studio for theater, with architects
Herman Helmer and
Ferdinand Fellner
Ferdinand Fellner (19 April 1847 – 22 March 1916) was an Austrian architect.
Biography
Fellner joined his ailing father's architecture firm at the age of nineteen. After his death he founded the architecture studio Fellner & Helmer together w ...
.
After two years of construction, the opening day of the new Municipal Theatre (Teatro Comunale) was on October 3, 1885. For this occasion, two great operas never before performed were prepared. They were
Verdi's Aida
''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 December ...
and
Ponchielli's Gioconda. On that day, the first visitors, numerous guests and invitees could enjoy the impressive theater building, a masterpiece of architecture of his time, whose figural plastic and ornamental work contributed by the famous
Venetian sculptor
Augusto Benvenuti and ceiling paintings painter
Franz Matsch
Franz Josef Karl Edler von Matsch (16 September 1861, in Vienna – 5 October 1942, in Vienna), also known as Franz Matsch, was an Austrian painter and sculptor in the Jugendstil style. Along with Gustav and Ernst Klimt, he was a member of the Ma ...
in cooperation with even more famous brothers,
Ernst
Ernst is both a surname and a given name, the German, Dutch, and Scandinavian form of Ernest. Notable people with the name include:
Surname
* Adolf Ernst (1832–1899) German botanist known by the author abbreviation "Ernst"
* Anton Ernst (1975-) ...
and
Gustav Klimt
Gustav Klimt (July 14, 1862 – February 6, 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. Klimt is noted for his paintings, murals, sketches, and other objets d'art. Klimt's prim ...
.
In its rich history theater in Rijeka changed its name several times. After the Municipal (Teatro Comunale), the theatre was renamed, in 1913, to Teatro Verdi. However, due to historical and political circumstances (the city of Rijeka, at the time known as Fiume, became a
Free State before
passing to the Kingdom of Italy in 1924) the
Croatian language
Croatian (; ' ) is the standardized variety of the Serbo-Croatian pluricentric language used by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina, and other neighboring countries. It is the official ...
and Croatian theater artists did not have access to the theater at all until the end of 1945 when, following the example of similar permanent national domestic and foreign theatrical institutions established permanent National Theatre in Rijeka, the Croatian drama, Italian drama and opera and ballet. On October 20, 1946, after passing to
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
, a show played on its stage in Croatian for the first time. It was
Ivan Gundulić
Dživo Franov Gundulić ( it, Gianfrancesco Gondola; 8 January 1589 – 8 December 1638), better known today as Ivan Gundulić, was the most prominent Baroque poet from the Republic of Ragusa (now in Croatia). He is regarded as the Croatian nat ...
's ''Dubravka'', directed by
Matko Foteza Matko is a Croatian given name and surname that may refer to:
;Given name
*Matko Babić (born 1998), Croatian football player
*Matko Djarmati (born 1982), Croatian football player
*Matko Jelavić (born 1958), Croatian singer, songwriter, composer ...
with
Marija Crnobori
Marija is a feminine given name, a variation of the name Maria, which was in turn a Latin form of the Greek names Μαριαμ, or Mariam, and Μαρια, or Maria, found in the New Testament. Depending on phonological rules concerning consecutiv ...
in the role of Dubravka. It was soon followed by the first performance of an opera and ballet,
Zajc's Nikola Subic Zrinjski, conducted by
Boris Papandopulo
Boris Papandopulo (February 25, 1906 – October 16, 1991) was a Croatian composer and conductor of Greek and Russian Jewish descent. Ha-Kol (Glasilo Židovske zajednice u Hrvatskoj); Djela hrvatskih skladatelja Židovskog podrijetla u Beču; s ...
, and the title role sung
Milan Pichler
Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4  ...
. The first play of the Italian drama was
Goldoni's ''
Il burbero benefico''.
In the year 1953 the theater gets a new name after another one composer, but this time the biggest Croatian and a fellow citizen of Rijeka, Ivan Zajc.
Since 1991 theater got the status of national theater, and in 1994 its present name, Croatian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc. From the historical 1946 to today, with its four artistic branches (Croatian Drama,
Italian Drama, the Symphonic Opera and ballet) and more than 50 years of their continuous operation, with its quality performance HNK in Rijeka managed to set high theatrical and artistic criteria and placed itself on the rightful place of one of the by quality leading theaters in Croatia. At the same time, his repertoire today is characterized by performances of drama, opera and ballet classics as well as works of Croatian dramatic and operatic heritage and also first performances of the national acts, especially contemporary.
All the major Croatian theaters were built in the second half of the 19th century, including the one in Rijeka - behind
Osijek
Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...
(1865), and before
Split
Split(s) or The Split may refer to:
Places
* Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia
* Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay
* Split Island, Falkland Islands
* Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua
Arts, enterta ...
(1893) and
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
(1895).
On 20 March, due to the ongoing
coronavirus pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
, the Croatian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc in Rijeka started with an online virtual program ''
Zajc With You'' on thei
YouTube channel as an act responsibility and in solidarity with its audience, citizens of Rijeka and the wider community, especially those most vulnerable ones, either because of their age or because they are "on the front line of defense against the virus". Some ensembles will not continue their regular and usual work, because it involves gathering of more people, such as orchestras or choirs, and physical contact, such as ballet ensembles.
The daily program has the following content and layout:
*08:00 AM - Morning ''selfie'' poetry - one actor of Croatian or Italian drama reads poetry.
*12:00 PM - Aria at noon - a soloist of the opera ensemble performs one aria.
*08:00 PM - "Zajčić"("Bunny") for a good night - Actors of Croatian and Italian Drama tell children a good night's story.
*10:00 PM - Ballet insomnia - a short dance video: ballet practice, solos, choreographic fragments (at a safe distance).
Administration
* Intendant: Marin Blažević
* Business director: Martina Radelja (Jasmina Šegon)
* Director of Ballet: Maša Kolar
* Director of Croatian Drama:
Renata Carola Gatica
* Director of Italian Drama: Giulio Settimo
References
Bibliography
* Nensi Giachin Marsetić, ''Il Dramma Italiano: storia della compagnia teatrale della Comunità nazionale italiana dal 1946 al 2003,'' Volume 9 di Etnia / Centro di ricerche storiche, Rovinj (HR). ISSN 0353-3271
* Andreas Leben, Alenka Koron (herausgeber), ''Literarische Mehrsprachigkeit im österreichischen und slowenischen Kontext'', Tübingen (DE), Narr Francke Attempto, 2019. ISBN 978-3-7720-8676-2
*La Confraternita del Chianti, ''Pentateuco'', CUE Press, 2019 Imola. (IT) ISBN 9788855100649
*
Chiara Boscaro,
Marco Di Stefano, ''Verso Est: La città che sale, L'ultimo giorno di scuola, Effetto farfalla, La ricerca della simmetria,'' Spoleto (IT), Editoria & Spettacolo, 2021. ISBN 9788832068313
External links
*
{{authority control
Music venues completed in 1885
Theatres completed in 1885
Fellner & Helmer buildings
National theatres
Theatres in Rijeka
1885 establishments in Croatia
Opera houses in Croatia
Organizations based in Rijeka