“This Musical Peace is Worse than War:” Cultural History, Musical Banality and Political Context in the Ballet Excelsior

Abstract From 1847, the head of the Budapest ballet was Federico Campilli (1820–1889), an individual of Italian origin. He regarded Viennese taste as authoritative in designing the program, thereby building on the international ballet repertoire. This repertoire included romantic pieces from Western Europe, along with Campilli's own choreographies. Campilli concluded his forty-year tenure in Budapest in 1887, and Cesare Smeraldi (1845–1924) assumed his position. The imperial city served as the model for shaping the ballet program, commencing its operations with the staging of Manzotti's spectacular Excelsior , which had premiered in Vienna two years earlier. This sensational performance, focused on the rise of human civilization and the development of technology, involved hundreds of actors and was destined for success throughout Europe. It ran for 29 years in Vienna and nine years in Budapest. In this study, an exploration of the driving forces behind this ballet success story with unconventional themes is undertaken. Various aspects are examined, such as the discourse of dance and the articulation of otherness in local and global spaces. The study delves into what technophile ballet entails, how cultural history, abstract concepts, discoveries, and inventions can be narrated through ballet. The thesis also highlights the debatable aspects of the ballet's music, utilizing music reviews from Budapest and Viennese newspapers. Through these reviews, an attempt is made to map the reception history of the ballet in Vienna and Budapest. The significance of Excelsior in the political power field within Hungarian conditions is also emphasized.