The ballet Istar is the first stage work by Bohuslav Martinů that was performed. The performances took place at the National Theatre in Prague, where his previous stage works, Night, H 89 (1914), and The Shadow, H 102 (1916), had been turned down due to the justifiably negative assessments of Otakar Ostrčil (1879–1935), the programme director and later chief of the Opera of the National Theatre.
Martinů probably began composing the work in 1921. On 15 August 1921 he informed Stanislav Novák (1890–1945) of his progress – “[…] I have half of the second act done after all and half of the third as well and I will complete the third act here for sure and finish the second act at home, because that is the hardest bit of the whole ballet.” The exact date of completion, 21 November 1921, is inscribed on the title page of the autograph score.
The libretto was written by Martinů himself. The source of the text was Julius Zeyer’s (1841–1901) prose Ištar. Epický zlomek z Babylonu (Ishtar. Epic Fragment from Babylon), which had been published within the second volume of his Obnovené obrázky (Revived Images) in 1906. The subject matter was drawn from Sumerian mythology, which had also inspired Vincent d’Indy (1851–1931) to compose Istar as a tone poem in the form of several variations (1896). When preparing the text, Martinů collaborated with the poet, translator, and music critic Jaromír Borecký (1869–1951). He included a brief overview and even created a separate script for the choreographer and the director. The printed version of the libretto was published in Ferdinand Pujmann’s revision in 1924.
On 15 October 1921 Martinů received a letter from Otakar Ostrčil, who was heading the Opera of the National Theatre at the time: “Most honoured Sir, I have accepted your ballet Istar for performance at the National Theatre.” However, a regular contract was not signed until 7 July 1923, as the composer was still applying the finishing touches to the ballet. At the request of the choreographer Remislav Remislavský (1897–1973), he composed the additional Dance of the Priestesses for the first act as late as November 1923 – the title page of the autograph bears the place and date of completion: Paris 11 Novembre 1923. He had already moved to Paris in October 1923, where he was studying composition under Albert Roussel. The ballet was premiered on 11 September 1924 with the subtitle “A ballet mysterium in 3 acts and 5 tableaux”. The title role was danced by Yelizaveta Nikolska (1904–1955), to whom Martinů later dedicated his short ballet Hands, H 157bis (1927). The main male role of Tammuz was danced by Remislav Remislavský himself. The performance was conducted by Vincenc Maixner (1888–1946). Although the stage setting was influenced by the avant-garde concepts of Bedřich Feuerstein (1892–1936), the choreography was sometimes criticised as being too rigid. With regard to the music, reviewers mainly mentioned Martinů’s tendency towards French music and his fascination with Debussy’s Impressionism, even though he had still been living in Prague when he composed the work.
The premiere was attended by Martinů, who was called to the stage several times after the performance and honoured with applause and a bouquet of flowers. The ballet was repeated eight times in all, of which only three were of full length (11, 13, and 18 September 1924). The later performances were shortened and paired either with Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherezade (24 September, 7 October, 3 and 7 November 1924) or with Stravinsky’s ballet Petrushka (15 and 16 May 1924). The abbreviated version of Istar returned to the stage of the National Theatre in 1964. It was given a theatrical rendition in the F. X. Šalda Theatre that same year and in the J. K. Tyl Theatre in Pilsen three years later. It re-emerged as a fragment in Brno in 1984 as part of a theatre programme dubbed Czech Fragments and Fantasies.
Natálie Krátká, Martinů Revue XXI, no. 2 (May–August 2021), pp. 7–8.