Jakov Gotovac, one of Croatia’s most esteemed opera composers, wrote the one-act opera Stanac in the late 1950s in collaboration with librettist Vojmilo Rabadan, based on Marin Držić’s comedy Old Stan, or the Fool Fooled. In this work, which Gotovac described as an operatic scherzo, the plot of Držić’s Renaissance comedy from 1550 unfolds during carnival time—a festive period in which anything seems possible.
Modelled on Italian Renaissance stage masquerades, Držić’s pastoral comedy is infused with the distinctive spirit of Dubrovnik, embodied in the central character of Stanac, a naïve peasant. The gullible old man believes that masked figures disguised as fairies will restore his youth and is willing to pay generously for such a miraculous transformation. Blending pastoral and farcical elements, fairy dances and folklore, Držić’s comedy vividly evokes the exuberant atmosphere of a Dubrovnik carnival night and is here fully reimagined as a musical and theatrical work. The chamber opera culminates in the masqueraders revealing their true identities, apologising to the deceived Stanac and rewarding him generously.
The opera was first performed in 1959 at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb and was later staged at the same venue together with the one-act opera Dalmaro, in a programme titled Adriatic Duology. Directed by Hrvoje Korbar and conducted by Josip Šego, the present production—performed on both the main stage and the CNT 2 stage—allows the Zagreb Opera to continue its tradition of presenting seminal Croatian operatic works while further enriching its repertoire.
