Julius Laska

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Julius Laska
Director Julius Laska (center) and his ensemble at the Innsbruck City Theater in the 1901–1902 season

Julius Laska (born January 28, 1850 in Linz , † August 24, 1933 in Linz-Urfahr ) was an Austrian actor , theater director and director .

Artistic career

He was the son of simple bourgeoisie and learned the profession of comb maker. Laska made his first experiences with acting as a prompter with a group of traveling actors , which he joined after his training in Ried (Upper Austria) in 1868. The first important role in which the young mime was able to convince was the role of Willibald in Benedix's play "Mathilde". In the spring of 1870 his theater career was interrupted by three years of military service. After completing this service, he immediately returned to the art of acting. First he worked in Bavaria (Straubing, Ingolstadt and Augsburg ), later in Bozen , Innsbruck , Kaschau , Laibach , Ödenburg , Olmütz and Karlsbad , until he finally got an engagement at the Carl-Schultze-Theater in Hamburg as a young comedian . In 1881 he had the opportunity to prove his skills as the first character comedian at the Deutsches Hoftheater in St. Petersburg , where he also worked as a director .

After his stay in St. Petersburg, Laska assisted under director Dorn at the Landestheater Linz , which gave him the opportunity to study the conditions on this stage in detail and to prepare for his life's goal of taking over the management. His good manners, his acuteness and his good contacts with the financial world were decisive in the fact that the Upper Austrian provincial committee entrusted him with the management of the scenic theater in Linz on April 24, 1884. In the seven years that he worked in Linz, he succeeded in enormously enhancing the reputation and importance of this house in artistic terms. Laska also looked after the provincial theaters in Wels, Steyr, Hall, Gmunden and Reichenhall. During the winter season of 1891/92 he was director of the Grand Théâtres in Amsterdam and honored the Viennese operetta there. From 1889 to 1921 he directed the spa theater in Marienbad during the summer months . In the main season, which lasted from September to Easter, Laska led the city theaters in Innsbruck (1900–1903), Regensburg (1905–1909) and Meran (1910–1912). This made him one of the few theater directors in the monarchy who employed the staff all year round, which apart from the large residence theaters was only the case in Graz and Prague.

Julius Laska was a very impulsive person with a great enterprising spirit. He led his ensemble with a strict hand, but was otherwise very concerned about the well-being of the staff, which he paid above average. When it came to helping his artistic ideas achieve a breakthrough, he did not shy away from pre-financing or commissioning the improvements that appeared necessary to him, which in and for himself should have been obtained from the owner. In order to be able to compensate for the resulting loss in the theater box office - at the Linz State Theater, for example, Laska had electric lighting installed at his own expense, which resulted in a display of 20,000 guilders - the house should have been sold out every evening. This ambitious goal could not be achieved with the modest means available to a director of a provincial theater.

As in the big theaters in the provincial capital Vienna, the audience in Linz, Innsbruck and Marienbad also asked for variety. If this request was not met, the audience stayed away and the ensemble played in front of almost empty stands. That is why Laska was constantly busy finding new products that had been successfully implemented in Vienna and on other stages so that they could soon be performed in-house. Whenever there was a need, Director Laska wasn't too bad to take on the role of a fellow actor and to appear in front of the audience in person.

Another powerful tool that Laska was happy to use to fill the ranks of his theater was hiring guest stars. Among the celebrities he was able to win for guest performances are Alexander Girardi , Ludwig Martinelli , Wilhelm Knaack , Georg Reimers , Bernhard Baumeister , the Hofburg actresses Stella von Hohenfels-Berger , Auguste Wilbrandt-Baudius , Johanna Buska , Agatha Bârsescu and the operetta singer Marie Geistinger Of particular note. No longer imaginable today, but at that time a matter of course that no one took offense, was the presentation of people with a special handicap, such as a “Lilliputian specialty troupe” traveling through, which was included in the theater as a special sensation.

Since the acquisition of license rights and the obligation of guests were associated with considerable costs, Laska was not able to balance the balance sheet despite the mostly well-filled houses. At the end of a game season, he therefore regularly made a pilgrimage to the city officials to persuade them to take over the deficit. In order to emphasize his demands, he occasionally combined them with the request to release him from his contractual obligations in the event that the request was rejected. This tactic was mostly successful as his qualities as a director were beyond doubt.

In 1919 Laska celebrated his 50th anniversary on stage. By the time he retired at the age of 72, what little he had saved in his active time had already been used up. He spent the last years of his life sick and plagued by bitter misery in Linz. Hardly anyone took notice of his demise. His grave was also forgotten.

family

Julius Laska had an illegitimate son - Joseph Laska (actually Reitinger, from 1908 Reitinger-Laska) - who became a recognized conductor and composer, with the chorister Rosa Reitinger (born approx. 1870) . Laska had no children with his wife Julie from Pressburg (Bratislava) . Professionally, the artist couple often went their separate ways.

Awards

Laska's services to art have been honored by sovereigns at home and abroad: King Edward VII of Great Britain awarded him the Order of Victoria, the Shah of Persia, Mozaffar ad-Din , awarded him the Imperial Persian Order of the Sun and Lion and presented him with a magnificent diamond ring. Archduke Johann sent him a letter of praise. At the end of 1909, Duke Karl Eduard von Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha finally awarded him the title of director of directors .

Highlights of artistic creation

Opera

Two opera performances under Laska's direction towered far beyond the size of a provincial stage. This included the opera “ Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg ” by Richard Wagner, which was performed for the first time on April 27, 1885 , and in which external opera performers, including the soprano Johanna Loisinger from the Theater in Troppau , who later became Princess Battenberg and later Countess Hartenau. The second performance, which the audience remembered for a long time, was the Mozart opera “ Don Juan ”, which was staged on October 31, 1887 for the secular celebration of the first performance on October 29, 1787.

operetta

In October 1888 the operetta " Der Mikado " was performed, which was in no way inferior to the performance in the Theater an der Wien . The anniversary performance of the operetta "Boccaccio" , which went over the theater boards in Linz for the 50th time on January 19, 1889, was a rare theater event . The composer of "Boccaccio", Franz von Suppè, sat at the conductor's desk.

play

In this genre, in addition to “ Wallenstein's Camp ” and Anzenguber's “Der Fleck auf der Ehr”, Otto Ernst's comedy “Flachsmann als Erzieher ”, staged at the Innsbruck City Theater, stands out from the large number of productions.

ballet

Laska was the first director to introduce ballet on the Linz stage. Since a permanent ballet corps could not be maintained, external workers had to be recruited for the ballet performances, mostly from the court opera in Vienna and other large theaters.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Laska's friend and fellow actor, comedian Sebastian Stelzer, who died in 1892, described this time of search for meaning in a humorous and witty way (Innsbrucker Nachrichten, March 18, 1903, p. 1 f.).
  2. ↑ The Humorist June 10, 1892.
  3. ^ Innsbrucker Nachrichten, April 7, 1900.
  4. ^ Innsbrucker Nachrichten, December 18, 1901.
  5. ^ In the magazine "Der Humorist", issue July 20, 1909, Laska's brilliant roles are listed on page 2.
  6. ↑ This list is taken from the Linzer Tages-Post dated March 5, 1932 (selection).
  7. ^ Innsbrucker Nachrichten, December 4, 1902.
  8. ↑ See e.g. B. Innsbrucker Nachrichten, January 23, 1901.
  9. ^ Salzburger Chronik, August 25, 1933, p. 5.
  10. ↑ Austrian Music Lexicon Online: Laska, family.
  11. ^ Innsbrucker Nachrichten, September 21, 1900.
  12. ↑ a b c d Linzer Tages-Post, January 24, 1920, p. 4, and March 5, 1932, p. 7.
personal data
SURNAME Laska, Julius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian actor, theater director and director
DATE OF BIRTH January 28, 1850
PLACE OF BIRTH Linz
DATE OF DEATH August 24, 1933
Place of death Linz-Urfahr