Ceremonial curtains of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb – lecture of Dr Zdravko BlažekovićFrom the theatre — 23. November 2023.
On Wednesday, November 29, 2023, at noon in the CNT in Zagreb Dr Zdravko Blažeković will give a lecture on ceremonial curtains which, since the Renaissance period, have been displaying diverse visual content that was never exhibited together at the same time. For a short period of time the CNT stage will turn into a gallery venue and present the ceremonial curtains in their European and Croatian context.
Free tickets can be picked up at the theatre Box office.
The Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb has over time collected eight stage curtains and this is a very large number of curtains, even for much larger theatres and the authors are among the most prominent Croatian artists such as Vjekoslav Karas (1850), Vlaho Bukovac (1895), Fran Šimunović (1969), Krsto Hegedušić (1969), Ivan Lacković (1994), Ivan Lovrenčić (1997) and Vasilije Jordan (1999), while the iron curtain, designed after the artistic model of Kamilo Tompa and Fran Šimunović, was created by Vladimir Pintarić (1969).
Stage curtains, with their prominent position before the spectators who are in anticipation of a performance, are the most impressive part of a theatre's interior. Curtains in baroque theatres have mostly displayed themes related to ancient mythology and have, through metaphors, emphasised royal or aristocratic theatre owners. In Romanticism artists painted compositions rich in national messages, paying homage to royal families and in Italian theatres, themes connected to local history were very popular. The new reading of dramaturgy in the 1860s simplified theatrical curtains and they were mostly plain without figurative images. The architect of the Paris Opera Charles Garnier for the unusually richly ornamented space designed a luxurious drapery that did not suggest any kind of story. The curtain that Richard Wagner designed for his performances was also plain and it was supposed to open in such a manner that would lead the spectators into the dramatic story that commenced on the stage.
ZDRAVKO BLAŽEKOVIĆ lives in New York where he is the director of the Research Centre for Music Iconography at the Graduate Center, City University of New York. He is also the executive editor of Répertoire International de Littérature Musicale. In 1998, he started a scientific magazine for music iconography Music in Art, and in 2016 he founded the monographic series Music in Visual Cultures (Brepols) where he works as the editor. He is the president of ICTMD Study Group on Iconography of the Performing Arts. His scientific interests include music of southeastern and central Europe of the 18th and 19th centuries, music iconography, organology, music historiography, reception o ancient Greek and Roman organology of the 18th century, music contacts between Europe and China until the 19the century and music symbolism in medieval and Renaissance astrology.
