How to Create a National Opera? The Lisinski Case. Imaginary Memoirist Sketches with an Epilogue

Abstract

The article deals with the situation in the 1840s, when the young composer Vatroslav Lisinski (1819–1854) was asked by Zagreb patriots to compose a national opera. He was not musically well-educated for such a task, and the poets were not experienced in writing librettos either. The author presents these issues, the ensemble, and the performance of Ljubav i zloba (Love and Malice) by way of an imagined monologue by the composer.

Keywords

• vatroslav lisinski / ignaz fuchs
• love and malice
• porin
• national opera
• illyrian movement