The Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb ( hr, Hrvatsko narodno kazalište u Zagrebu), commonly referred to as HNK Zagreb, is a theatre, opera and ballet house located in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

Overview

Interior of Croatian National Theater, Zagreb 01

The theatre evolved out of the first city theatre opened in 1834 housed in the present-day Old City Hall. The theatre was first established as the ''Croatian National Theatre'' in 1860, and in 1861 it gained government support putting it on par with many other European national theatres. In 1870 an opera company was added to the theatre and in 1895 it moved to the new purpose-built building on

Republic of Croatia Square Republic of Croatia Square ( hr, Trg Republike Hrvatske) is one of the biggest squares in Zagreb, Croatia. The square is located in Lower Town, with the Croatian National Theatre building at its centre. It is sometimes billed as the "most ...

in Zagreb's

Lower Town Lower Town (also spelled "Lowertown" (french: la Basse-Ville) is a neighbourhood in Rideau-Vanier Ward in central Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, to the east of downtown. It is the oldest part of the city. It is bounded by Rideau Street to the south, ...

, where it is based today. Austro-Hungarian emperor

Franz Joseph I Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...

was at the unveiling of this new building during his visit to the city in 1895. The building itself was the project of famed Viennese architects

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 ...

and Herman Helmer, whose firm had built several theatres in Vienna. Celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the building were held on October 14, 1995. At the entrance of the theatre is located the wall fountain ''The Source of Life'' (''Zdenac života''), designed by Croatian artist and sculptor

Ivan Meštrović Ivan Meštrović (; 15 August 1883 – 16 January 1962) was a Croatian sculptor, architect, and writer. He was the most prominent modern Croatian sculptor and a leading artistic personality in contemporary Zagreb. He studied at Pavle Bilinić's ...

in 1905. Many of Croatia's leading artist have worked at the theatre. Its first

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

and

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

was the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

– Croatian poet

Dimitrija Demeter Dimitrios Dimitriou ( gr, Δημήτριος Δημητρίου, sometimes spelled Dimitrija Demeter or Dimitrije Demeter; 21 July 1811 – 24 June 1872) was a Greek Croatian poet, dramatist, short story writer and literary critic. One of the ...

, a leading activist of the

Croatian national revival The Illyrian movement ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Ilirski pokret, Илирски покрет; sl, Ilirsko gibanje) was a pan-South-Slavic cultural and political campaign with roots in the early modern period, and revived by a group of young Croatian inte ...

movement, with

Ivan Zajc Ivan Zajc (also hr, Ivan plemeniti Zajc, it, Giovanni de Zaytz; ; August 3, 1832 – December 16, 1914), was a Croatian composer, conductor, director, and teacher who dominated Croatia's musical culture for over forty years. Through his ar ...

as first conductor.

Jakov Gotovac Jakov Gotovac (11 October 189516 October 1982) was a Croatian composer and conducting, conductor of classical music. His comic opera, ''Ero s onoga svijeta'' (''Ero the Joker''), Croatia's best-known opera, was first performed in Zagreb in 1935. ...

was the Theatre's opera conductor from 1923 to 1958. The famous Croatian theatre director

Branko Gavella Branko Gavella (29 July 1885 – 8 April 1962) was a Croatian theatre director, critic and essayist. Biography Born in Zagreb, Croatia (which was at the time part of Austria-Hungary) Gavella finished high school in his hometown before enrolling a ...

began his career here, as did the first Croatian

prima ballerina A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on ye ...

Mia Čorak Slavenska Mia Slavenska, née Čorak (20 February 1916 in Brod-na-Sava, now Croatia, then Austria-Hungary – 5 October 2002 in Los Angeles, United States) was a Croatian-American soloist of the Russian Ballet of Monte Carlo in 1938–1952 and 1954–1955 ...

. A notable comic opera

Ero s onoga svijeta ''Ero s onoga svijeta'' (usually translated as ''Ero the Joker'', literally ''Ero from the other world'') is a comic opera in three Act (theater), acts by Jakov Gotovac, with a libretto by Milan Begović based on a Folklore, folk tale. The genesis ...

premiered in this theatre in 1935. The theatre has also seen many international artists including Franz Liszt, Sarah Bernhardt,

Franz Lehár Franz Lehár ( ; hu, Lehár Ferenc ; 30 April 1870 – 24 October 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas, of which the most successful and best known is ''The Merry Widow'' (''Die lustige Witwe''). Life a ...

, Richard Strauss,

Gérard Philipe Gérard Philipe (born Gérard Albert Philip, 4 December 1922 – 25 November 1959) was a prominent French actor who appeared in 32 films between 1944 and 1959. Active in both theatre and cinema, he was, until his early death, one of the main ...

, Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier,

Jean-Louis Barrault Jean-Louis Bernard Barrault (; 8 September 1910 – 22 January 1994) was a French actor, director and mime artist who worked on both screen and stage. Biography Barrault was born in Le Vésinet in France in 1910. His father was 'a Burgundia ...

Peter Brook Peter Stephen Paul Brook (21 March 1925 – 2 July 2022) was an English theatre and film director. He worked first in England, from 1945 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, from 1947 at the Royal Opera House, and from 1962 for the Royal Sha ...

, Mario Del Monaco, José Carreras. There are also Croatian National Theatres in

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, entertai ...

, Rijeka, Osijek,

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and

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ser ...

. 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 identifie ...

the Croatian National Theater in Zagreb decided, in collaboration with the daily newspaper '' 24sata'', to allow citizens access quality cultural content through a

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

channel, which will feature daily performances from the branches of

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

and

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

, and the viewers will be able to watch some of the most popular performances of the Theater, such as: *

One Song a Day Takes Mischief Away ''One Song a Day Takes Mischief Away'' is a 1970 Croatian comedy-drama film. Its original title is ''Tko pjeva zlo ne misli'', which means "He Who Sings Means No Harm". Directed by Krešo Golik and based on a novella by Vjekoslav Majer, the film a ...

– * Swan lake – * Ero the Joker –

References

External links

* {{authority control Theatres in Zagreb Donji grad, Zagreb National theatres Opera houses in Croatia 1860 establishments in Croatia Music venues completed in 1895 Theatres completed in 1895 1895 establishments in Croatia Fellner & Helmer buildings Neoclassical architecture in Croatia

Overview

See also

References

External links