''The Brandenburgers in Bohemia'' ( cz, Braniboři v Čechách) is a three-act
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
, the first by
Bedřich Smetana
Bedřich Smetana ( , ; 2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884) was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style that became closely identified with his people's aspirations to a cultural and political "revival." He has been regarded i ...
. The Czech
libretto
A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...
was written by
Karel Sabina
Karel Sabina (pen names include Arian Želinský and Leo Blass) (29 December 1813 – 8 November 1877) was a Czech writer and journalist.
Life
Karel Sabina grew up in poverty as an extramarital child of a daughter of a sugar producing factory' ...
, 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 Theatre
The Prague Provisional Theatre ( cz, Prozatímní divadlo, ) was erected in 1862 as a temporary home for Czech drama and opera until a permanent National Theatre could be built. It opened on 18 November 1862 and functioned for 20 years, during wh ...
(or the "Interim Theatre"), Prague, on 5 January 1866, and the first performance was a success. The first UK performances were in April 1978 by
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.
...
Municipal Opera. The first professional production in the UK, conducted by
Vilém Tauský Vilém Tauský CBE (20 July 1910, Přerov, Moravia – 16 March 2004, London) was a Czech conductor and composer who, from the advent of the Second World War, lived and worked in the UK, one of a significant group of émigré composers and musician ...
, was not until 1994.
Roles
Synopsis
:Place:
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
:Time: the 13th century, during the occupation of
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
by forces of the
Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg (german: link=no, Markgrafschaft Brandenburg) was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe.
Brandenburg developed out o ...
.
Upon the death of King
Ottokar II in the 1278
Battle on the Marchfeld
The Battle on the Marchfeld (''i.e. Morava Field''; german: Schlacht auf dem Marchfeld; cs, Bitva na Moravském poli; hu, Morvamezei csata) at Dürnkrut and Jedenspeigen took place on 26 August 1278 and was a decisive event for the history o ...
, his widow
Kunigunda had called in the Brandenburgian troops to lend aid against the army of victorious
Rudolf of Habsburg
Rudolf I (1 May 1218 – 15 July 1291) was the first King of Germany from the House of Habsburg. The first of the count-kings of Germany, he reigned from 1273 until his death.
Rudolf's election marked the end of the Great Interregnum which h ...
. Rudolf retired to
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, nevertheless the Brandenburgers soon acted like occupants: they arrested Kunigunda and her seven-year-old son
Wenceslaus
Wenceslaus, Wenceslas, Wenzeslaus and Wenzslaus (and other similar names) are Latinized forms of the Czech name Václav. The other language versions of the name are german: Wenzel, pl, Wacław, Więcesław, Wieńczysław, es, Wenceslao, russian: ...
at
Bezděz Castle
Bezděz Castle is a Gothic castle located some southeast of Česká Lípa, in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. Its construction began before 1264 by order of Ottokar II of Bohemia.
The royal castle of Bezděz was one of the most import ...
and agreed with Rudolf that they would retain the Bohemian rule for the next five years.
The Prague people led by mayor Volfram Olbramovič suffer from the Brandenburg occupation. The citizen Junoš reports on plundering and looting Brandenburgian troops. Ludiše, the mayor's daughter, rejects the approaches made by the German townsman Jan Tausendmark, who thereupon joins the occupants. The serf Jíra is designated the leader of a rebel movement. He openly charges Tausendmark with the kidnapping of the three daughters of the mayor, Ludiše, Vlčenka and Děčana. To avoid clashes of arms, Olbramovič has Jíra arrested. The mayor's daughters are kept by Brandenburg troops and Olbramovič asks Tausendmark to arrange for their liberation. However, the Brandenburg captain Varnemann demands a high ransom. Meanwhile, Jíra is put on trial and condemned to death. However, it is Junoš, in love with Ludiše, who manages to save Jíra. Tausendmark, who intends to abduct Ludiše, fails to reach an agreement with Varnemann. He and the Brandenburgers are driven out of Prague, and the city is liberated.
Political background
While taking place in a distant historical time, the opera presents heroic Czechs struggling to shake off the oppressive rule of German-speaking occupiers – a theme obviously attractive to a Nationalist Czech audience. However, the opera's villains are not the
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
Austrians who actually ruled Bohemia at the time when the opera was written and performed. Rather, they are from Brandenburg – the lineal ancestor of
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
, Austria's main rival; in January 1866, when the opera was presented, tensions between Austria and Prussia were at their peak, and a few months later would culminate in the
Austro-Prussian War
The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...
. Thus, Austrian censors had no strong reason to object to an opera presenting Brandenburgers as villains.
[Ursula V. Weintraub, ''Nineteenth Century Operas as Political Manifestos'', pp. 35, 39.]
Recordings
* 1963, (conductor),
Chorus and Orchestra of the Prague National Theatre;
Karel Kalaš
Karel Kalaš (9 October 1910 – 3 May 2001) was a Czech operatic bass and film and television actor. He first rose to prominence at the Slovak National Theatre, where he was a member from 1934 through 1939. He left there to join the roster of p ...
, Jiří Joran,
Ivo Žídek
Ivo Žídek (4 June 1926, Kravaře – 20 May 2003, Prague) was a Czech lyric tenor, known for his vivid portrayals of character roles in the operas of Smetana, Dvořák and Janáček.
Early life
Ivo Žídek was born in Kravaře, Czechoslovaki ...
,
Zdeněk Otava
Zdeněk Otava (11 March 1902 – 4 December 1980) was a Czech operatic baritone who had a lengthy career at the Prague National Theatre that spanned more than four decades. Musicologist Alena Němcová stated that, "Otava's voice had a very wide ...
, Antonín Votava, Bohumil Vich,
Milada Šubrtová
Milada Šubrtová (24 May 1924 – 1 August 2011) was a Czech operatic soprano who had a lengthy career at the National Theatre in Prague from 1948 through 1991. She was part of an instrumental group of the post-World War II Czech opera singers ...
, Miroslava Fidlerová,
Věra Soukupová,
Eduard Haken
Eduard Haken (22 March 1910 – 12 January 1996, Prague) was a Czech operatic bass (voice type), bass who had a lengthy career at the National Theatre (Prague), National Theatre in Prague during the 20th century. Although he mostly performed with ...
, Jindřich Jindrák
References
Further reading
*
Warrack, John
John Hamilton Warrack (born 1928, in London) is an English music critic, writer on music, and oboist.
Warrack is the son of Scottish conductor and composer Guy Warrack. He was educated at Winchester College (1941-6) and then at the Royal College o ...
and West, Ewan, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Opera''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992
External links
*
* ''Braniboři v Čechách'', zpěvohra o třech jednáních. Slova napsal: Karel Sabina; hudbu složil: Bedřich Smetana; klavírní výtah s textem. Upravil: Jindřich Kaàn z Albestů (
piano–vocal score
A vocal score or piano–vocal score is a music score of an opera, or a vocal or choral composition written for orchestral accompaniment, such as an oratorio or cantata. In a piano–vocal score, the vocal parts are written out in full, but ...
). Prage (1900): Péči Družstva Ctitelů Smetanových
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brandenburgers in Bohemia, The
Operas by Bedřich Smetana
Czech-language operas
1866 operas
Operas
Operas set in Bohemia
13th century in Bohemia
Operas set in the 13th century