 ORCA Operetta Research Center AmsterdamSymposium Operetta 17 april 2008, Dr Kervin Clarcke
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Looking at a bright new future? First operetta conference in the Netherlands a great success
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The first operetta conference in the Netherlands – held on April 17th in the Theaterinstituut on Herengracht as a joint enterprise of the Operetta Research Center Amsterdam, the Nationale Reisopera and the Theaterinstituut itself – turned out to be a great success. The surprisingly large audience included people from all levels of the 'operetta world,' ranging from representatives of the amateur organizations, professional stage and theater directors to historians, journalists and members of various (government) subsidy committees. The presence of all these people allowed for very varied and stimulating discussions about what is interesting about operetta as an art form, and what needs to be don! e to give this fascinating genre a bright(er) future in the Netherlands.
In the first half of the day, various historians presented different aspects of operetta in the Netherlands. After the welcoming words by Henk Scholten, director of the Theaterinstituut, and Ben Coelman, representative of the Nationale Reisopera, Kevin Clarke from the Operetta Research Center Amsterdam spoke about the special history of operetta in Holland and gave an outline of how the genre is being dealt with in other countries, mentioning pop-art productions of "Le chanteur de Mexico" at the Châtelet in Paris 2006, Peter Konwitschny's Regietheater version of "Land des Lächelns" in Berlin 2007 and the successful kitsch-art "Rössl" in Vienna's Theater in der Josefstadt 2008 with pink latex dirndls. Clarke's point was, that these very modern ways of dealing with operetta could be something the cosmopolitan Dutch might want to copy, instead of eternally continuing with their quickly d! ying, yet historic tradition of sexless 'old fashioned' Vienna! Waltz O perettas. Hans van de Veen from the Theaterinstituut spoke about the treasures to be found in his institute dealing with operetta (programs, historical reviews, photos), Katja B. Zaich talked about the legendary Fritz Hirsch operetta company 1926-40, historian Koen Kleijn from "De Groene Amsterdammer" gave a stirring speech on the Nazi-institution "Deutsches Theater in den Niederlanden" playing propaganda operetta in Holland between 1942-44. At the end of the first half of the day a film excerpt was shown of Johannes Heesters in "Gasparone" (1937), followed by a brief discussion about the special relationship the Dutch have with their most famous (and still active at 104 years of age) operetta star. – Another famous Dutch operetta star from the more recent past, Marco Bakker, was present in the audience.
The second half of the day consisted of discussion rounds. The first dealt with the Hoofdstad Operetta, which was the longest living professional operetta group ! the Dutch ever knew (1945-2000), a groups which is also, at least partly, responsible for the catastrophical image operetta has in the Netherlands today. The two last directors of the Hoofdstad Operette, Jaap Montagne and Hans Nieuwenhuis, told their side of the story (which wasn't too positive about the workings of the institution), and Katja Zaich gave a historical introduction on who the three Jewish founding members of the Hoofdstad Operette were and why they started such a company directly after having returned from the German concentration camps. Special attention was paid to the fact that the audience of the Hoofdstad Operette originally consisted mostly of Jewish people who created a special charm in the auditorium (Ralph Benatzky's famous 1928 statement about the "Jews being the ideal theater audience" was read in full).
The next discussion focused on the amateur w! orld, wh ich is a phenomenon: nowhere else on earth are there so many amateur operetta groups as in Holland, and nowhere else is an art form completely (!) left to amateurs, who obviously present it in a very one sided and amateur way. Four people busy in this amateur world gave critical, yet passionate statements about the situation and also the potential of amateur productions. Their claim was, that good professional performances are needed in the Netherlands to give the amateurs a worthwhile and positive example of what operetta can be – so they can imitate. So far such positive examples are missing, with lamentable consequences for the amateur world.
The last discussion round looked into the future, with avant-garde composer Micha Hamel present to talk about his experience with the new tragic operetta "Snow White", which the Reisopera presented in January 2008. In the end, with some very provocative statements from the audience in-between, the conclusion of Hamel was ! that the theater people themselves must make the first step and stage good productions, instead of waiting for subsidy money as a stimulant. So far, no operetta crusader is in sight who might fulfill this job. However, Eddy Habbema and Muriel van Dintered announced that they will form a new professional operetta group that will present the "Lustige Witwe" and other 'interesting' works in the near future (if they get subsidy money for which they have just officially applied.) Jeanne Companjen from Opera Trionfo spoke about her upcoming production of Honegger's naughty and truly modern operetta "Les Aventures du Roi Pausole" (shown in October and December 2008 throughout the Netherlands), and the Reisopera mentioned their plan to show "Im weißen Rössl" after 2010.
It remains to be seen what the long term effects of the conference will be, but at least it offered some hard facts and historical information about the genre, also some examples of what operet! ta can be in other countries, examples worth following in Holl! and othe rwise open to foreign influences in the music-theater world.
One idea was to do another operetta day in the fall of 2008 together with the Operastudio Nederland, and for the future get the amateur world further involved in research activities and study days. Another plan is to give Fritz Hirsch his own website and thus make Katja Zaich's ground breaking presentation from the conference easily available for everyone.
The reactions of the audience were all positive and showed that there is interest enough in the Netherlands to deal with operetta in a broader and more serious way, talk about the historical aspects of the art form, but also show the joyous side of the genre. Without exaggeration one can say the conference was a good starting point for future discussions, and also for making the Operetta Research Center Amsterdam more widely known in the professional and amateur operetta world of Holland.
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update : 4 mei 2008
 ORCA Operetta Research Center Amsterdam Symposium Operetta 17 april 2008, Dr Kervin Clarcke
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