Carl Ebert - His Work at The Ankara State Conservatory

His Work At The Ankara State Conservatory

Carl Ebert was invited to Ankara from Germany during the 1935-36 academic year. Based on his report, state conservatory classes began to be held at the Musiki Muallim Mektebi in the 1935-36 academic term. In addition, all aspects of musical education also included theatre and opera instruction. Carl Ebert, stayed in Ankara and directed the State Conservatory theater school and opera studio for nine years.

At the outset, Carl Ebert’s classes at the Ankara State Conservatory opera studio used standard Western works with Turkish text. Such was the case with Mozart’s one-act opera Bastien und Bastienne that was staged by students and accompanied by the Presidential Symphony Orchestra. Given the positive reviews received, librettos in Turkish were experimented with, and in 1940, for the first time in Turkey, the second act of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly was performed in Turkish by the opera studio. In May 1941, this was followed by the second act of Puccini’s Tosca. Again, the performances were a great success, and this was reflected in the press. By an act of Parliament on May 16, 1940, the State Conservatory’s classes initiated at the Musiki Muallim Mektebi were officially turned into the State Conservatory consisting of music, opera, ballet, and theatre schools. Each year between 1937 and 1957, the Ankara State Conservatory sent out teams of musicologists into the countryside to compile traditional folk melodies. Some 10,000 melodies were compiled and many were recorded on wax records. They are now preserved in the archives of the Ankara State Conservatory at Hacettepe University.

Carl Ebert set up departments of opera and theatre in the Conservatory as well as founding a "practice theatre" where opera and drama students could appear in public performance. Today, operas are produced regularly in five of Turkey’s cities by the Turkish State Opera and Ballet, bound to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.