Šárka (Fibich)

"Šárka" is an opera in three acts, opus 51, by Zdeněk Fibich to a Czech libretto by Anežka Schulzová, his student and lover. Fibich composed the full score over the period of 8 September 1896 to 10 March 1897. [Abraham, Gerald, "The Operas of Zdeněk Fibich" (Autumn 1985). "19th-Century Music", 9 (2): pp. 136-144.] . At the time, Czech audiences regarded Fibich with suspicion as being overly influenced by the music of Richard Wagner, and Fibich had selected the legend of Šárka for this operatic subject to try to counter such sentiments. Even so, the opera still contains use of Wagner's idea of "leitmotif".Smaczny, Jan, "The Operas and Melodramas of Zdenĕk Fibich (1850-1900)" (1982-1983). "Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association", 109: pp. 119-133.] The opera received its first performance at the Prague National Theatre on 28 December 1897. "Šárka" is Fibich's most popular opera and is regularly revived in the Czech Republic.

The subject matter, the Bohemian legend of Šárka which appears in 14th-century Czech literature, is related to that of Smetana's tone poem "Má vlast" and the opera of the same name by Janáček. Schulzová used as her primary literary source an 1880 version of the story by J. Vrchlický.

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