Brandenburgers in Bohemia

The Brandenburgers in Bohemia ( _cz. Braniboři v Čechách) is a three-act opera, the first by Bedřich Smetana. The Czech libretto was written by Karel Sabina, and is based on events from Czech history. The work was composed in the years 1862–1863. Smetana and Sabina wrote the opera at a time of great Czech patriotism, with the pending opening of a new theatre for production of Czech operas in Prague. The opera received its first performance at the Provisional Theater (or the "Interim Theatre" [W. W. Cobbett, "Czech National Opera". "The Musical Times", 45(732), pp. 92-95 (February 1, 1904).] ), Prague, on 5 January 1866, and the first performance was a success. [Brian Large, "Smetana's "The Secret". "The Musical Times", 113(1551), pp. 452-454 (May 1972).] The first UK performances were in April 1978 by Hammersmith Municipal Opera. [Brian Large, "Smetana's "Brandenburgers". "The Musical Times", 119(1622), pp. 329-330 (April 1978).]

Roles

ynopsis

The setting is Prague in the 13th century, during the occupation of Bohemia by forces of the Margrave of Brandenburg.

The serf Jíra is the leader of a rebel movement in Prague. He charges the Brandenburg captain, Tausendmark, with kidnapping the three daughters of the mayor, named Ludiše, Vlčenka and Děčana. Jíra is later arrested, put on trial, and condemned to death. However, Junoš, who is in love with Ludiše, manages to save Jíra. Eventually, Tausendmark and the other Brandenburgers are driven out of Prague, and the city is liberated.

Discography

* 1963, Jan Hus Tichý (conductor), Chorus and Orchestra of the Prague National Theatre; Karel Kalaš, Jiří Joran, Ivo Žídek, Zdeněk Otava, Antonín Votava, Bohumil Vich, Milada Šubrtová, Miroslava Fidlerová, Věra Soukupová, Eduard Haken, Jindřich Jindrák

References

ources

*"The Oxford Dictionary of Opera", by John Warrack and Ewan West (1992), 782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5