Lisinski Page #3

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company, my lovely countess?

Scandalous. How can that countess

be flirting with the likes of that triga?

As if she is on a stage.

Yes, you are right, sweetie,

the dinner was excellent.

Our esteemed president

received a good lesson today.

I don't think he will forgive me easily.

To the good health of the

most charming lady in Zagreb.

This polonaise was truly a surprise.

It makes me immensely

happy to hear that, dear countess.

But here is still a small surprise

for you in the waiting. - What is it?

Here she comes. - Oooh, miss Hedviga.

Good evening, triga.

- Kiss your hand.

You did not expect this,

did you? - Truly, I did not.

Just a moment, children,

let me see if this is the right time.

Miss Hedviga, I am really surprised.

- Don't be, dear Striga.

I have decided to take care

of something very important.

Here at the ball? - Yes, here.

Today, our ban, our honorable lord is here,

so I have asked the countess to introduce me.

For God's sake, what are

you planning? - You shall see.

Good evening, Illustrissimus.

- God's grace, hello, friend.

You see, that my turkeys from

Zagorje are worth something after all.

You look much better already.

Why are you so deep in thoughts?

Illustrissimus, here in the country,

everything is so beautiful and peaceful.

I am obsessed with how

lovely the folk singing is.

In fact, music ought to be

composed in that spirit alone.

You see, son, I have come

to the same conclusion long ago.

But, I didn't want

to say anything about it.

Let our young artist

come to those thoughts alone.

Where have my aging wits gone?

I almost forgot the most important thing.

Here. You received a letter from

Zagreb, but not written in female hand.

I hadn't received anything in a long time.

Whose letter is it? - triga's. - triga?

Is it something important?

- Very important, Illustrissimus. Listen:

Our esteemed Demeter wrote the libretto

for your new opera. What do you say to that?

The opera will be called "Porin"

or "liberation of the Croats

from Frankish oppression".

Excellent, wonderful,

already a second Croatian opera.

You are great young men. Keep reading.

...and furthermore, your triga

has arranged and found support

for your musical studies in Prague.

A letter of recommendation for duke Rohan,

the patron of the Prague Conservatory,

will be written by our honorable lord

ban himself, at the request from Hedviga.

You see, that's a woman.

Dear Sir! We regret to inform you that we

are unable to admit you to our Conservatory,

because you are older than

the prescribed maximum age limit.

With my deepest respect...

Since the Prague Conservatory

was unable to take him in,

Lisinski took lessons at professor

Pitsch's famous organ school.

Even professor Kitl, the

Conservatory director himself,

gave composing and

instrumentation lessons to Lisinski.

During this time, "Porin", the

second Croatian opera, was written.

With the third act already completed,

and having broadened his

musical knowledge immensely

during his stay in Prague, Lisinski

returned to Zagreb full of hope.

Gentlemen, please, just

a few moments longer.

We have come to the last item

on our agenda. - Let us hear it.

You all remember that Lisinski,

sent by some hotheads to study in Prague.

As if we don't have enough

learned and skilled musicians here.

Well, that Lisinski has

now returned to Zagreb

and seeks a position

at the Musical Institute.

Has that young man

learned anything in Prague?

Here are some impressive diplomas that

say he has learned quite a lot there.

Some of his friends

probably arranged for those.

Gentlemen, as a loyalist I must warn

you that this illyrian outlaw group

has become dangerous in Zagreb,

as they have many followers

even among the highest ranks of society.

That's why I think something

must be done about them.

We should reject his application,

it is as simple as that.

It would not serve our purpose

to reject it outright,

so I suggest we give this Lisinski

some sort of a position anyway.

My vote is against it.

- He could have stayed in Prague.

Enough of these dilettantes.

They will ruin our music.

Silence! Gentlemen. Silence.

Please listen to all I have to say.

I suggest that we

offer this Lisinski a position,

but perhaps not a position

of professor or even director,

which is probably the ambition

of those wise guys behind him.

No, we shall give him a supervisor

position, unpaid. - Excellent.

Unfortunately we do not have

the funds to pay him for his work.

But this way we appear to

have shown some good will.

I hope he will not endure

very long as an unpaid supervisor.

That is great.

We have to protect the professor

class from such dilettantes.

I ask then that my proposal be accepted

by this honorable Board of Directors.

Let it be so. - It is good. - Accepted.

Thank you gentlemen,

this meeting is adjourned.

Lisinski accepted even the position

of an unpaid musical supervisor

at the Musical Institute,

all to be able to contribute

to the spreading of musical literacy.

Are you writing this down, my ladies?

- We are. - Very well, let's keep going.

Lisinski found himself living

in very difficult conditions.

All the time that was left for his creative

work were the long, sleepless nights.

He was draining his

own strength to its very limits.

Hey, Lisinski!

Friend! Wake up!

O, triga, what is it?

My God, he sleeps without a care

for the events unfolding around him.

I fell asleep a bit. I have

been up all night, working.

Just so you know, I have finished "Porin".

You finished "Porin"!

That is wonderful, Nacek!

Allow me to congratulate

you. Long live "Porin"!

But, Nacek, you must already know that

our young king is coming to Zagreb soon...

Of course I know it. But

why are you telling me this?

Eh, my son, you are one

of the most important people,

who must help that this time around,

the Croatian spirit is fully expressed.

Why me? What

do you mean? - Listen.

The welcoming committee has put

together a schedule for the grand theater.

Look, you will conduct

the performance of the anthems,

you will compose a special

overture for the glorious occasion,

and then your opera

"Love & Malice" will be performed.

Wonderful. - Ha, my dear.

The entire royal court will be

in that theater. What do you say?

Marvelous! - We'll see what

those wise guys say after that.

Now is the time to defeat them totally,

and after that the composer

of Croatian operas will no longer be

an unpaid supervisor

at the Musical Institute,

but rather the leader of the entire

Croatian musical establishment.

Will you do it? - Of course I'd like to.

But I don't know, there is so little time.

There is enough time. We will all

help. Work should begin immediately.

Very well.

So I would recommend that you use your place

to stop the Croatian performance in the theatre

on the day of the arrival

of His Majesty in Zagreb.

Your loyalty will be, as always,

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