The History of Slovak Theatre – 8. Operetta
The tradition of musical entertainment theatre, particularly the operetta, formed in Slovakia thanks to the Hungarian and German traveling theatre companies which brought new other forms of musical theatre – musical comedies, farces and vaudeville. Proximity to Vienna, which became one of the leading centres of operetta in the 19th century, had influence over the cultural life of the residents of Bratislava – they did not have to go through the birth pangs of creating an operetta as a genre, as they were getting the finished products. The audiences loved operetta; the critic refused it. It was one of the reasons why operetta had a difficult life in Slovakia. Time and again it had to prove its validity as an art form – sometimes using the help of the classics, other times through the ingenuity of the contemporaries end frequently also the domestic authors. Even today, in the time of musicals, it is still true that an operetta is a high-quality musical foundation and the performers’ maturity and resourcefulness can fill a theatre house.
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