Municipal Theatre Research Articles

Viral Interstitiality and Unlikely Resources: Gender and Labour in Turkish Public Theatre During the Covid-19 Pandemic

The growing literature on Covid-19 and theatre has demonstrated how the pandemic has intensified gendered precarities in theatrical labour.1 However, the pandemic has also provided feminist theatre makers with unexpected or unlikely resources, albeit with limitations. The Istanbul Municipal Theatre's (İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi Şehir Tiyatroları or İBBŞT) production of Melek that premiered in 2020 is an indicative example of such rare and largely invisible cases of pandemic theatre. Critically engaging with the archives and repertoires of tuberculosis (TB) melodrama and the Turkish lives of the genre, Melek conducts an experiential mapping of the performativity of death and the porous borders between everyday performance and artistic performance. The production offered independent feminist theatre practitioners, who otherwise maintain a precarious existence in Turkey's theatre world, access to new spaces, resources and audiences. Combining archival with ethnographic research, I will demonstrate how, in the case of Melek, the intersections between actual and fictive viral contagion – what I define as viral interstitiality – constitute inclusive economies amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. In somatics, the interstitial is theorized and enacted as suspensions of static schisms that shape relational empowerment.2 Drawing upon this grasp of the interstitial as connective thresholds, viral interstitiality sheds light on the practices and the economies of care that emerge from the porous dynamism between the viral and the theatrical.

Między krytycznym teatrem politycznym a teatrem dokumentalnym. Uwagi o spektaklu "Białoruś obrażona"

The author refers to the play Insulted Belarus, staged at the Municipal Theater in Gliwice. The drama, which is the basis for the performance of Andrey Kureichik, is a story about the contemporary situation in Belarus, elections, persecution, and dictatorship. In a subtle and sophisticated way, he shows two narratives: those desiring freedom and the dictator. It uses the experience of political theater and modern multimedia techniques. According to the author, the artistic coherence is broken by the last scene – a direct account of the events. However, in the ideological plan, it is the most important and strongest message. The story of people who yearn for freedom.

Literary Resonances in Clara Nunes´ Song - Macunaima, Rhapsody, Mario De Andrade

The article aims to check the intersection of the musical, verbal, visual and body languages which are present in the art of Brazilian interpreter, research and composer Cara Nunes (1942-1983), focusing works recorded by her over the 70s, when the interpreter dedicates herself completely to the authentic Brazilian music, the folklore, affirmation of the African religious matrix and defense of equality and liberty. One of Clara Nunes’songs recorded by her in 1975 permits an dialogue with Brazilian Culture, mainly with Literature and the work of writer, professor and musicologist Mário de Andrade (1893-1945): <i>Macunaíma, </i>a samba composed by David Corrêa and Norival Reis, an inter-semiotic translation of the rhapsody romance of the modernist writer. One can visualize a bridge connecting the targeas and ideas of the two Brazilian artists, supported by strong links of similarities, including appreciating of “roof culture”. Clara Nunes developed a vast project including musical, visual and body interaction. Her clothing were specificallly designed according to the popular culture, composed of white dresses, generally laced material and typical acessories full of religious symbolism. Her singing altered in some respects, setting aside the imposture that characterizes the romantic or lirics interpretations, with reductions of the <i>vibrato, </i>maintaining its power and beauty. And the interpreter created her body language, which were developed during five years course of African dance with Mercedes Batista, the ballerina, teacher and choreographer of Rio de Janeiro Municipal Theatre, creator of Afro-Brazilian Ballet. <i>Macunaíma </i>(samba) is an excellent example of this Clara Nunes’s process of creation developed with interseccion of the three languages.

Andantes con Cervantes

Andantes con Cervantes

THEATRIC LIFE OF PERM IN THE CONTEXT OF REVOLUTIONARY AND POST-REVOLUTIONARY EPOCH (1917-1927)

The paper deals with theatric life of Perm in the context of revolutionary and post-revolutionary decade. Main aesthetic, structural, sociopolitical causes of transformation of cultural processes are determined. Collisions of various political and artistic stances, role of local authorities and their representatives in educational and cultural subdivisions, as well as administrative and territorial reforms which had an effect on the city’s overall lifestyle pattern are reviewed. The analysis covers sociocultural and artistic events, the activities of the Municipal Theatre and of new theatre groups. These include the Provincial Revolutionary Theatre, the Intimate Theatre, the Young Workers’ Theatre. Guest performances of metropolitan theatres and individual actors which took place in Perm in the 1920s are described. Accent is given to the performances by the 3rd Studio of the MAT directed by Ye. B. Vakhtangov, the performances by the Revolution Theatre directed by V. E. Meyerkhold. Both successes and failures within the large-scale ‘historic experiment’ which took place a century ago, as well as the reasons behind those successes and failures, are concluded to be of value as lessons learned

"Wnętrze" Stanisława Wyspiańskiego - afisz czy plakat?

The article discusses Wnętrze by Stanisław Wyspiański, namely the formal and semantic aspects of the poster. The contexts of its interpretation are modern culture, symbolism, Wnętrze – the drama by Maurice Maeterlinck, and its theatrical production that was directed by Tadeusz Pawlikowski at the Municipal Theatre in Cracow. The formal characteristics of Wyspiański’s poster is shown with its reference to the poster, the playbill and the placard, and in relation to the correspondence of literature, fine arts and the theatre. The article points to the innovativeness of Wnętrze in Wyspiański’s artistic output, in the cultural life of Cracow at the turn of the 20 th century, and also in the development of the correspondence of arts.

Diagnostics of the RC Roofing Structure of the 100-Year-Old Municipal Theatre Facility.

Reinforced concrete has been a widely used material for the construction of buildings for many decades. However, with the passage of time, the material characteristics and connection of structural elements gradually degrade. Development in measurement technology makes it possible to efficiently obtain data on the current state of the structure and material characteristics using non-destructive methods, with limited or no destructive testing. The paper presents the analysis of the condition of the reinforced concrete roof of a 100-year-old theatre building in terms of its further use after planned modernisation. The tests carried out in situ as well as the computational analysis of structure are described. Based on the test results, the current load-bearing capacity was assessed and the limit state conditions were checked. Limitations on the accuracy of the non-destructive test results in relation to the destructive test results were formulated. Options for the strengthening reinforced concrete beams with regard to structural and technological considerations were analysed.

Forensic Architecture in the Theatre and the Gallery: A Reflection on Counterhegemonic Potentials and Pitfalls of Art Institutions

This article examines the status of counterhegemonic knowledge in art institutions – such as the theatre and the gallery – by analysing Forensic Architecture's investigation into the murder of Halit Yozgat in Germany. We argue for paying close attention to claims about art institutions’ inherent counterhegemonic potential. As evidence, we present a critical experiential account of our visit to Forensic Architecture's gallery exhibition Counter Investigation at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. Following this, we discuss how the investigation was presented at the civic tribunal Tribunal NSU-Komplex auflösen, whose organizers took over and reassembled the municipal theatre Schauspiel Köln in Germany (2017). Drawing on an expert interview, we explore how the tribunal actively positioned itself against the potentially violent structure of the theatre space. Ultimately, our discussion considers the requirements for supportive and effective political alliances by art institutions and thus contributes to the debate in performance studies on institutional critique.

Color and Architecture: Walter Gropius and the Bauhaus Wall-Painting Workshop in Collaboration, 1922-1926

The Bauhaus was rooted in the idea of collaboration between artist and craftsman and the visual arts and architecture. No medium was more dependent on this spirit of cooperation than painting. Instead of easel painting, Walter Gropius, an architect and the founding director, promoted wall painting. He involved the school’s Wall-Painting Workshop in many of his private and official Bauhaus commissions, however these collaborative relationships were never easy. This essay examines four projects involving Gropius and Bauhaus wall painters from 1922 to 1926: the Municipal Theater and Haus Auerbach, both in Jena; Gropius’s office in Weimar; and the Bauhaus building in Dessau. In these projects, the role of paint and color in architectural form emerged as a key issue and point of conflict between painter and architect. Wassily Kandinsky' 1924 memo on wall painting made it clear that color could emerge with form (Entstehen), accompany form (Mitgehen), or be in opposition to form (Entgegengesetzte) - a group of terms that might describe both the effects of wall painting and the nature of collaboration. Early on, painters such as Oskar Schlemmer and Alfred Arndt envisioned dynamic and colorful paintings in architecture. However, these transformative effects threatened to dematerialize the architecture itself, and as the 1920s progressed, Gropius increasingly rejected bold pictorial wall paintings or lively painting schemes, opting instead for restrained subordinate color. By 1926, Hinnerk Scheper, the leader of the Wall-Painting Workshop, used paint to subtly and functionally accentuate and enhance buildings. In their collaborations with Gropius, the Bauhaus wall painters transitioned from independent cooperators to subordinated collaborators, and ultimately they developed an approach in which color yields to the demands of architecture.

The Programs of the Municipal Theater of São Paulo: Theater and Society in a Peripheral Modernity (1911-1922)

RESUMÉ Dans cet article nous proposons une réflexion sur l’usage par l’historien d’une documentation très peu explorée jusqu’à présent : les programmes de théâtre. Notre étude est basée sur le dépouillement d’environ 200 programmes de spectacles du Théâtre Municipal de São Paulo entre 1911 et 1922. Ce théâtre est une véritable icône de Sao Paulo de la Belle Epoque, période marqué par un grand développement économique et une forte expansion urbaine. Par l’étude des aspects physiques et visuels des programmes, ainsi que par l’étude de leurs contenus et, en particulier, de leurs publicités, nous proposons une lecture de la signification du théâtre dans la nouvelle modernité qui s’installe dans cette ville et qui par la même, efface rapidement les traces du passé colonial.

Theater, Space and Place Making in North-East Bangladesh

Although Theater activities inject a significant effect on outdoor public affairs, local urban planners do not sufficiently consider such impact while designing a new civic theater in Habiganj, a growing sub-urban district of Bangladesh. Incoherent theater buildings in such urban areas fail to engage people with theater at large, in consequence, the act of theater remains incomplete. The research was conducted through a semi structured interview, social demographic data analysis, case studies, technical aspects and literature survey providing the anthropomorphic image of a theater as an embodied space, elementary spaces of theater and affordable &amp; inclusive theatrical form as major findings. A regional model is driven from the research for local theater (different types of performing spaces) practice that can guide future municipal theater planning for theater to sustain among society &amp; people.

The Boy in the Royal Box

The Boy in the Royal Box Rosy-Triantafyllia Angelaki (bio) and Meni Kanatsouli (bio) The year 2022 marks the anniversary of the tragic events of 1922, the year when a great number of Asia Minor Greeks were killed or exiled from their homeland and forced to seek refuge within the borders of the Greek state. The centuries-long hostilities between Greeks and Turks were rekindled in 1919 when, with the agreement of the Allied (Western) forces, the Greek army landed in Asia Minor and was enthusiastically welcomed by the Greek population of Smyrna. Although Smyrna belonged to the Turkish state, it was a cosmopolitan city with a large, flourishing Greek community. The Greek army, however, did not stop at Smyrna; instead, it advanced farther inland. The battle of the Sangarios resulted in the victory of the Turks, who marched into Smyrna and set the city on fire. The Allies did not help, and the Greek army could offer no assistance either. The Greeks of Smyrna were left helpless, and many lost their lives in their effort to flee, while others survived as refugees in Greece (Tusan 144-74). Greece was a poor state back then but did its best to accommodate the huge influx of refugees that poured into Athens. A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since 1922, but for many the violent uprooting from their homeland has never been forgotten. A lot has been written about the ousting of the Asia Minor Greeks: accounts from the refugees themselves, novels, leaflets and articles, photographical documentation, biographies and autobiographies, chronicles of a city, and films. Children's books have been written: The Girls in Sailor Suits (1991) and The Last Greek of Smyrna (2018) by Eleni Dikaiou, Nene from Smyrna by Elsa Hiou (1993), The Statue That Felt Cold by Christos Boulotis (1999), and Myrto and Smyrna of Miracles (2022) by Vasiliki Markaki provide quality material through which children today can formulate a clear picture of this traumatic period of Greek history. Το αγόρι στο θεωρείο (The Boy in the Royal Box) by Angeliki Darlasi was first published in 2017 and republished in 2021 as a special hardcover edition for the upcoming one hundredth anniversary of the destruction of Smyrna. The novel is about the coming of the refugees to Athens in 1922, but even in literary narrations of the past, the present is always there; therefore, it is reflective of the thoughts and feelings of modern Greeks who live in a country that still, just as in 1922, welcomes refugees within its borders. In the book, we bear witness to events as seen and felt through the eyes of a little boy, Drosos, who is at a complete loss about what is happening around him. In the first part, told from a first-person intimate point of view, and in the second, told in the more objective third person, we follow the flow of events of a displaced population who come to poverty-stricken [End Page 81] Greece and are forced to live in the Municipal Theater of Athens for lack of special refugee accommodation elsewhere. Drosos cannot accept the reality of his new situation or come to grips with having lost what is described as "his first, real life." He simply cannot believe that "this is his new life." How can he go from "the embroidered with lace white sheets" of his past life to this new life, where they have to count the bites of food so as not to starve? In the little refugee's new life, miracles can and do happen; the boy, however, is too deeply hurt to find any relief. He only cares about two things: to find his parents and to protect his little sister, Areti, who hides in a trunk and who disappears halfway through the story. The events that Drosos lives through are traumatic. He obsessively refuses to accept the fact that his parents are gone. He turns a blind eye to the reality around him and lives in a made-up world of his own. He believes that his sister is with him, that she is playfully hiding somewhere. Others realize that things are not at all the way Drosos imagines...

Teatr dla wszystkich? Spór o rolę Teatru Miejskiego na tle dyskusji społeczno-politycznych w Kaliszu lat trzydziestych XX wieku – zarysowanie problematyki

Theatre for All? A Clash Over the Role of Municipal Theatre in Kalisz Framed Within the Socio-Political Discussions of the 1930s. A Reconnaissance In this short essay – proposing an outline of the research in progress – Author offers several questions regarding the interwar reconstruction and functions of the municipal theatre building in Kalisz. What kind of socio-political message was conducted in the Neoclassical architecture of this ediffice, designed by Czesław Przybylski in 1919 and then in the 1930s refurbished and redesigned (interiors) by Juliusz Żórawski in modernist and streamline design? What kind of educated subject, a new Pole, was the subject for theatre perceived as a medium of education and political tool in this middle-seized interwar Polish town? Who attended the auditorium and who was expected to attend and why? Author explores preliminary press and archival sources, focusing on the (mostly unexplored by historians of Kalisz) discourse of nationalism and even chauvinism that fueled several aspects of the debate around the municipal theatre and its roles in Kalisz.

"Connections": A Virtual Theatre Experiment in a Medieval Village

During the 22nd edition of Collinarea, Festival di Teatro Arte e Tecnologia (Collinarea, Theatre, Art and Technology Festival) the event Connections, created by Mirco Mencacci and by Artistic Director Loris Seghizzi, took place in Lari. The whole village was cabled with optic fibres to set up the first theatre experiment with different and separately located stages. The social distancing due to the Covid-19 pandemic offered the occasion to stage a polytopic performance in the streets of the village, located in the Tuscan hills. The play, just like any TV broadcast, was coordinated remotely from a control centre at the municipal theatre. Each of the three sites set up for the event included a stage for live performances and used screen mirroring to stream the event in a sort of intertwined narrative. This paper describes the performance with a focus on its contemporary rewriting of Sophocles’ Ajax by the theatre companies Civilleri-Lo Sicco and Scenica Frammenti. Keywords: virtual stages; polytopic performance; Sophocles’ Ajax; contemporary rewriting

É Vossa Excelência pela adoção da jupe-culotte? Escândalo e modelagem em 1911

Em 1911, a metrópole de São Paulo foi invadida, às vésperas da inauguração do Theatro Municipal, por uma nova moda, a jupe-culotte, que já havia assombrado cidades do Velho Mundo, como Roma e Paris. Esse último grito da moda fora ouvido também na então capital federal, o Rio de Janeiro, onde senhoras que usaram o traje precisaram ser conduzidas para escaparem das ruas em segurança. O artigo investiga as razões dessa animosidade e oferece ainda ao pesquisador a modelagem da jupe-culotte, feita a partir de manuais de modelagem e revistas de moda do período e em instituição museológica, para uso e recriação artística.

Sacrosanctity or Duty? The Reception of Beethoven’s Fidelio in the Context of the Cultural-Political Situation in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century in Pressburg

Staging Beethoven’s Fidelio in the second half of the nineteenth century in Pressburg drew on a long- standing Beethoven tradition prevalent in the town. Also, it stood at the center of protests against the growing influence of Hungarian theater in the newly constructed theater building since Fidelio was performed always at a time when the renewal of an agreement with a German-speaking director was being decided on (1889, 1892, 1895). The opera was staged with the participation of the choral societies and musical associations of the town. Its performances were held close to the annual festive masses of the most well-known association of Pressburg, the Church Music Association of St. Martin’s Cathedral (Germ. Kirchenmusikverein bei der Dom-, Kollegiats- und Stadtpfarrkirche zu St. Martin, Hung. Szent Márton Pozsonyi Egyházi Zeneegylet), where Beethoven’s Missa solemnis was performed. This enhanced the efforts of the supporters of the German theater to call Beethoven’s œuvre a carrier of “true art” and humanism and use it as a symbol of cultural identity in the discussions led about preserving the German season in the Municipal Theater (Germ. Stadttheater, Hung. Városi Színház).

Physiognomies of Performance: The Corollary of Representation in the Work of Abdias do Nascimento

Physiognomies of Performance:The Corollary of Representation in the Work of Abdias do Nascimento Juan Suárez Ontaneda Infelizmente, as circunstâncias não permitiram a repetição daquele espetáculo, pois o palco do Teatro Municipal havia sido concedido ao TEN por uma única noite, e assim mesmo por intervenção direta do Presidente Getúlio Vargas, num gesto mínimo insólito para os meios culturais da sociedade carioca. (Nascimento 214)1 The quote above is perhaps the only evidence available about how Abdias do Nascimento secured Rio’s most elite and exclusive venue in order to perform a play with an entirely black cast.2 Nascimento secured the Municipal Theater through the direct intervention of Getúlio Vargas, the dictator that governed Brazil during the Estado Novo [New State] period (1930–1945), and was later elected in free [End Page 313] election in 1950 for a second term.3 Despite the scant evidence about the negotiation between Nascimento and Vargas, the account by Nascimento foregrounds two central elements I would like to discuss in this article: Nascimento’s definition of spectacle, and his definition of performance. First and foremost, by understanding the meaning of spectacle (or “espectáculo”) we can assess the importance of “performing” as a method to intervene into the public sphere and discuss ideas about race and racism. Nascimento’s writing about the concept of spectacle is closely associated with the idea of venue: in this case, with the Municipal Theater. In other words, for Nascimento, the content of the spectacle was as important as the place where the spectacle was performed. In addition to the connection between space and spectacle, by focusing on how Nascimento spoke about race and performance we can also analyze the connection between writing about specific performances, and the act of performing itself. In that sense, the purpose of this essay is to analyze how Abdias do Nascimento understood the concept of “performance” and “performing” in connection with race and blackness in Brazil. Abdias spoke about performing as a discursive strategy to mobilize the issue of race through embodied representations. By way of this discussion, I will show how the work of Nascimento centered the body and the stage as central components of his racial activism. Nascimento was profoundly concerned with the intersection between his position as an Afro-Brazilian artist, the visual politics of blackness in Brazil, and the language available to speak about race in mid-twentieth century Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. The two largest cities of Brazil were central to the TEN [Teatro Experimental do Negro—TEN henceforth] because Nascimento founded his experimental theater in Rio, but he began his corollary of representation—as I suggest—through his writings at the São Paulo state prison. Nascimento’s intervention into the public sphere through his performances resulted in a critique of racial exceptionalism in Brazil. The Brazilian strand of racial exceptionalism, democracia racial [racial democracy], took roots in 1933 with the publication of Casa Grande e Senzala (translated as The Masters and the Slaves), the seminal work of Gilberto Freyre, a sociologist from northern Brazil. Nascimento dialogued directly with Freyre, inviting him to write an article in the periodical he edited: Quilombo. While Paulina Alberto (2011) and Elisa [End Page 314] Larkin Nascimento (2006) have written thorough accounts about the racial and political context of Quilombo and the TEN, I am interested in examining how the performative language engineered by Nascimento since his beginnings with the “Teatro do Sentenciado” [Theater of the Sentenced] informed the discursive trajectory of both his periodical Quilombo and his theatrical troupe, the TEN. Considering Nascimento started the “Teatro do Sentenciado” while an inmate at the São Paulo State Prison in 1943, the intellectual history of democracia racial during the Vargas regime intersects with the performative history of Nascimento and his different thespian projects. Vargas centered nationalism during both of his regimes; this meant acknowledging Afro-Brazilian culture as a pivotal component of Brazilian national identity, but it meant as well shaping policies and cultural institutions insofar they were subservient to the popularity of his regime. George Reid Andrews (2004) has analyzed how Vargas, like many other Latin...

From Jerusalem to Athens by Nurit Yaari

Reviewed by: From Jerusalem to Athens by Nurit Yaari Shiraz Biggie FROM JERUSALEM TO ATHENS. By Nurit Yaari. Oxford University Press. 2018. 480 pp. Hardcover and ebook, $140.00. Discussions of Israeli theatre, and Jewish theatre in general, often begin with the Talmudic prohibition against the theatre sparked by the encounter and rejection of Hellenism. Nurit Yaari’s book, From Jerusalem to Athens, is no exception, but builds from the idea that the Jewish rabbinical tradition (Jerusalem) and the classical tradition (Athens) are critical and often intertwined influences on Israel’s modern theatre. Yaari argues the contemporary encounter with classical Greek theatre has influenced Israeli artists to address questions of identity and “engage in an intellectual, artistic, and political dialogue with both Jewish culture (the particular) and classical Greek drama (the universal)” (p. 7). From the very beginning, Yaari establishes the role of Greek theatre as a “universal” to be reckoned with through a specific production. In her introduction, she situates the origins of Hebrew theatre with efforts dating back to the Italian Renaissance and Enlightenment periods that combined classical Greek drama elements with the Hebrew language. After establishing this precedent, the book focuses on productions staged either just before or within the modern State of Israel. Yaari’s work is expansive, looking at three types of productions: first, those directly following and using the Greek texts in translation; second, those created by theatrical artists across other traditions that are in dialogue with Greek drama (Anouilh, etc.); and, finally and critically, those native Israeli-written dramas inspired by Greek texts. The book is most exciting and illuminating in discussing the latter, offering significant new insights and approaches to the works in question. The book’s chapter organization is based on particular points of inquiry, such as chapters that explore a theatrical company, a specific Greek or Israeli playwright, conflict, or directorial approaches. Her book traces and frames the theatre of Israel in relation to “Athens” and how this interchange allowed for rich experimentation for Israeli theatre makers. Underlying her book is the broad question of theatre history—why this particular play here and now? Thus, many of the individual chapters are directly related to wars and conflicts in which Israel has played a part and seek to make arguments beyond not only the theatre itself, but on a changing Israeli society. Her book’s strength and weakness lie in this comprehensive mapping of “Athens” onto the “Jerusalem” of Israeli theatre. Yaari looks at 70 years of Israeli theatre (1945–2015), covering 22 Greek plays and touching on approximately 86 productions. Periodically, this [End Page 604] expansiveness obscures an overall through-line to the manuscript in favor of specific chapter arguments. The book occasionally places different productions in conjunction with contemporary Israeli events; the author does not always provide enough context on these events for the reader who is less familiar with Israeli society. As a contribution to the study of Israeli theatre, using the argument that the encounter between “Athens” and “Jerusalem” has been fruitful, the book offers a new way of viewing Israeli drama and its significant figures and adds to the growing English-language scholarship that aims to take Israeli theatre beyond its diasporic origins. One of Yaari’s methodological strengths, which allows her to intertwine a production’s reception with its cultural context, focuses on staging rather than only the play texts. She includes not only the play’s translation but a comprehensive discussion of all the elements of theatrical language, using production photos, designs, interviews, and reviews to piece together a picture of the theatrical event. She also draws on her own vast experience with and reception of many of the productions included. This multifaceted approach helps establish for the readera strong impression oftheactualproductions that are importantto her overall analysis. This approach also helps clarify the line between critical and audience response that marks not only the individual productions, but also the theatre culture of Israel more generally. The first two chapters approach two of Israel’s most well-known theatres, Habima (Israel’s National Theatre) and the Cameri (Tel Aviv’s municipal theatre), looking at their first attempts at classical drama in the mid-1940s...

Briefs / Feuilletons

Briefs / Feuilletons Aleš Březina The Central Library of the Liszt Academy in Budapest has acquired several documents from the legacy of the composer and conductor Emil Ábrányi Jr. (1882–1970). This collection is highly valuable from several aspects. The Ábrányi family is one of the most important Hungarian musician families of the nineteenth and twentieth century. The composer, musicologist, and music critic Kornél Ábrányi (1822–1903) was a member of the first teaching staff of the Music Academy in Budapest; his son, the poet Emil Ábrányi Sr. (1850–1920) translated many opera librettos into Hungarian. The wife of Emil Ábrányi Sr., Margit Wein (1861–1948) was a coloratura soprano opera singer, and, between 1901 and 1920, voice teacher at the Music Academy. Their son, Emil Ábrányi Jr., whose legacy has now become part of the collection of the Central Library of the Liszt Academy, studied composition with Hans von Koessler (1853–1926) at the Music Academy in Budapest, and conducting with Arthur Nikisch (1855–1922) in Leipzig. He began his career in 1904 at the Opera in Köln, and from 1907 he was conductor of the Opera in Hannover. His wife was also an opera singer, Rósa Ábrányi-Varnay (1885–1962), member of the Opera in Hannover. They returned to Hungary around 1910, and Emil Ábrányi Jr. became conductor of the Royal Hungarian Opera, while his wife became a member of the new opera house of Budapest, the Népopera (People's Opera). Emil Ábrányi Jr. was the director of the Opera in Budapest in a very difficult period, from 1919 to 1920, and after that he became the director of the Városi Színház (Budapest Municipal Theatre, in cooperation with the Royal Hungarian Opera). He also taught conducting at the Music Academy and worked as an opera conductor in Budapest, Debrecen, and Szeged. He composed twelve operas to librettos by several authors, including Maeterlinck, Dante, Cervantes, and Ferenc Herczeg, among others. His last opera, A Tamás-templom karnagya (The Cantor of the St. Thomas Church, 1947, unperformed), is the first opera composed about Johann Sebastian Bach. The Ábrányi family lived in the same house as Gustav Mahler in his Budapest years. The grandchildren of Emil Ábrányi Jr., Lívia Ábrányi, and Margit Ábrányi donated the legacy of their grandfather to the Central Library of the Liszt Academy The collection consists of printed and manuscript scores of his compositions, a total of twenty-two complete works and fragments, as well as photographs. Most of the scores are in manuscript, including full scores of three operas, two ballets, two works for symphony orchestra, and a Mass. Furthermore, the legacy contains handwritten vocal scores of seven operas and some songs for voice and piano as well. In the hope of performances abroad, Ábrányi wrote German translations beneath the Hungarian texts in most of the full scores and vocal scores of his operas. As part of the donation, the Library also received a photograph of Lívia Ábrányi›s painting depicting her grandfather, as well as Margit Ábrányi's manuscript memoirs in English and Hungarian. The cataloguing of individual items and the digitisation of sheet music will begin in 2021. The legacy of Emil Ábrányi Jr. will add considerably to several valuable Hungarian musician-legacies housed at the Central Library and the Research Library of the Music Academy. [End Page 33] An early version of String Quartet No. 2, H 150 (1925) by Bohuslav Martinů discovered 'I do not deny of course that Stravinsky has influenced me'. If we include the early string quartet Three Riders, H 1 (ca 1902), which Bohuslav Martinů took with him to the entrance exams at the Prague Conservatoire, then the missing string quartet, H 60 (1912), String Quartet in E-flat major, H 103 (from 1917, dubbed 'No. 0'), and String Quartet No. 1, H 117 ('French', apparently written a year later), we would be right to note String Quartet No. 2, H 150 (1925), as the composer's fifth foray into a genre that has been considered the pinnacle of chamber music...

The Metamorphoses of 'Orfeu da Conceição' by Vinicius de Moraes

This text is a hermeneutic exercise about one of the paradigmatic works of Vinicius de Moraes, Orfeu da Conceição. This plays opens a partnership between the poet and the composer Antonio Carlos Jobim, which was fruitful and unique for Brazilian arts. Orfeu da Conceição is also paradigmatic because it is the first work to bring black actors to the stages of the Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeiro. Orfeu da Conceição led to one of the films that most contributed, positively or negatively, to the international image of Brazil in the second half of the 20th century, the award-winning Orpheus Negro, by Marcel Camus. The text will notice how many of the ideas and representations of the favela were already visible in the Brazilian popular repertoire prior to the composition of the play. The idea, in general, is to observe how, in addition to its poetic-musical quality, Orfeu da Conceição can also serve as a reflection on how we represent and see favelas in the urban context, both in 1956 and today.