King and Charcoal Burner

King and Charcoal Burner (Král a uhlíř), Op. 14, is a three-act (23 scene) comic opera by the Czech composer Antonín Dvořák. The first version of the opera was written in 1871 to a libretto by Bernard J. Lobeský. That same year the composer offered the finished opera to the Czech Provisional Theatre in Prague. Bedřich Smetana, who was in charge of the opera at that time, returned the work to Dvořák the following year, claiming it was unperformabl... more

King and Charcoal Burner (Král a uhlíř), Op. 14, is a three-act (23 scene) comic opera by the Czech composer Antonín Dvořák. The first version of the opera was written in 1871 to a libretto by Bernard J. Lobeský. That same year the composer offered the finished opera to the Czech Provisional Theatre in Prague. Bedřich Smetana, who was in charge of the opera at that time, returned the work to Dvořák the following year, claiming it was unperformable. Dvořák created entirely new music to the same libretto - without using any of the original material. This new version was finished in 1874 and the première took place on 24 November 1874. By that time, Smetana already was no longer the chief conductor. (He became deaf in 1874.) Despite a good reception from both critics and audience, the opera was withdrawn after only four performances. Dvořák made another substantial revision in 1887. The libretto was partially refashioned by Václav Juda Novotný and Dvořák made modifications particularly... less