''Vanda'' is a

grand opera Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterized by large-scale casts and orchestras, and (in their original productions) lavish and spectacular design and stage effects, normally with plots based on o ...

in five acts by

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czechs, Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravian traditional music, Moravia and his native Bohemia, following t ...

. 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 Václav Beneš-Šumavský and after a work by Julian Surzycki.

Performance history

The opera was first performed 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 ...

in Prague on 17 April 1876. The British premiere was performed by student group

University College Opera University College Opera, or UCOpera, is the student opera company of University College London. The operas are staged by professional singers, directors and designers, with the orchestra and chorus drawn from the student body. Founded in 1951, ...

at the

Bloomsbury Theatre The Bloomsbury Theatre is a theatre on Gordon Street, Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden, owned by University College London. The Theatre has a seating capacity of 547 and offers a professional programme of innovative music, drama, come ...

in London on 22 March 2004.

Roles

Synopsis

The story is about the Polish queen,

Princess Wanda Princess Wanda (reputedly lived in 8th century Poland) was the daughter of Krakus, legendary founder of Kraków. Upon her father's death, she became queen of the Poles, but committed suicide to avoid an unwanted marriage to a German. Wanda legen ...

, who drowns herself in the

Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

river in order to save her people from the German invaders.

Recordings

*2004: Olga Romanko (Vanda), Valentin Prolat (Slavoj),

Ivan Kusnjer Ivan Kusnjer (born 10 November 1951) is a Czech baritone opera singer.''ND a jeho předchůdci'' Vladimír Procházka - 1988 "KUSNJER Ivan * 10. 11. 1951 Rokycany. Zpévák. Po maturité na Stfední prúmyslové skole strojnické v Plzni studov ...

(Roderich), Jolana Fogašová (Božena), Oleg Korotkov (Pagan high priest), (Lumír), Yvona Skvárová (Homena);

Gerd Albrecht Gerd Albrecht (19 July 1935 – 2 February 2014) was a German conductor. Biography Albrecht was born in Essen, the son of the musicologist Hans Albrecht (1902–1961). He studied music in Kiel and in Hamburg, where his teachers included Wilhel ...

, conductor;

National Theatre (Prague) The National Theatre ( cs, Národní divadlo) in Prague is known as the alma mater of Czech opera, and as the national monument of History of the Czech Republic, Czech history and art. The National Theatre belongs to the most important Czech cu ...

References

External links