Opera as Social Manifest: Madlena Zepter's Private Opera House and Theatre as Corporate Gift to the Serbian Nation

1. Preparation In the heart of the old city of Zemun, a historical Serbian town along the Danube, today just one of the municipalities which constitute the extended city of Belgrade, there is the Opera and Theatre Madlenianum, promoted by its owner, as well as by Serbian and international media as "the first privately owned opera and theatre company both in Serbia and in South-Eastern Europe", "the first private opera house in Europe since the Second World War" (for instance, Glyndebourne was founded in 1934), "the first private opera in the Balkans entirely founded and endowed by a single person" or "the private opera house with its sole donor". These highly glorifying slogans, which attract attention even more because they come from an operatic periphery of Europe, produce an even greater impression when we get deeper into the social context in which such an unusual and almost unreal project was carried out only recently. The Madlenianum was officially founded in 1997 by Madlena Zepter, born Horvat and married Jankovic, the wife of Milan Jankovic, who later changed his name to Philip Zepter due to the internalisation of his big business. Philip Zepter is a Serbian businessman and entrepreneur who is considered one of the richest Serbs in the world and one of the leading billionaires of the Balkans. He founded Zepter International in Austria, a family firm which has grown over time into an international corporation focusing on the production and sale of high-quality consumer products in kitchenware, cosmetics, medicine, jewellery, watchmaking etc. The Zepters own many luxurious villas and mansions; among them Villa in Cap Martine near Monte Carlo, one of the most splendid villas along the coast of the French Riviera which was in the past also owned by the Austrian Empress Sissy and the Egyptian King Faruk. They also own a spacious mansion in Paris with a meaningful historical connection as it belonged in the past to the Serbian royal Karadjordjevic family (Karli 2007). The incredibly polished and sophisticated lifestyle of the Zepters involves their special interest in supporting projects in the domain of science, sports and arts. Besides financing education and cultural activities, it is written on the official web page of the Madlenianum, "the most useful and the most expensive donor venture of Madlena Zepter is the establishment and financing of the operation of Madlenianum Opera and Theatre. The best thing to happen in Serbian theatre life since Prince Mihailo Obrenovic built Belgrade's National Theatre in 1868 was Mrs Zepter's gift to her country ...". For four hundred years, opera's aim was to fascinate and create fantasies about cultures and societies in which it was invented, sponsored, produced, performed, consumed and appreciated. Its universally recognised form of sociality held a privileged status throughout the centuries, and which it still enjoys today. In these days, however, it would be difficult to find a more idiosyncratic example of opera's ability to be considered a socially highly valued phenomenon than the one which will be discussed here. Namely, the story of Madlena Zepter is eminently a story of a very special "operatic mission"; a story which seemed almost forgotten and unseen today. There are numerous examples showing opera's cultural prominence of being taken either as the showcase of social interests or as a place of different social positioning, but it is very rare that opera is used as a strong personalised social manifest as this was the case with the Madlenianum in Belgrade. (1) In this article, we would like to show how Madlena Zepter has used opera to communicate or perform her relationships with different, sometimes even antagonistic social agents in Serbia and abroad, and how opera has well served her different tasks, business duties and public expectations. Opera has always established the various types of relationships between itself and the social worlds in which, and for which it was created. …