| Content | It is a supplement to the dramaturgical plan of the 1981/1982 season. La Serva Padrona (G. Pergolesi, intermezzo on a text by G. A. Federico), SLZY KNIFE (chamber opera by B. Martinů on the text by G. Ribemont-Dessaignes, translation by E. Bezděková) and Euphrides before the Gates of Tymen (opera on the text by J. Berg). The musical staging is by Václav Nosek, the direction by Ladislav Štros, the set designer is Vladimír Nývlt and the costume designer is Josef Jelínek. These three comic operas were chosen to replace the opera Khovanstin, which was postponed for operational reasons. The performance of these works is intended to test the possibilities of operating an experimental chamber theatre, which is planned for the space in the new additional building of the National Theatre. For this reason, La Serva Padrona was chosen as a Baroque opera staged from a contemporary perspective, followed by SLZY KNIFE as a 1920s chamber opera and JB as a representative of contemporary opera. The common feature is the ironic view of the relationship between man and woman.
A brief description of each of the operas follows. SLZY KNIFE is BM's second opera, composed in 1928 but remaining unperformed for over 40 years. The work was commissioned by the Baden-Baden Festival, but the directors were apparently frightened by the unusual subject matter and absurd plot. BM's music adds an ironic tone, humour and poetry to the story of a girl's love for her hanged neighbour. The main features of the opera are poetic comedy, ironization of banal life phenomena and unconventional theatricality. |