Libuše is a '"festival opera" in three acts, with music by Bedřich Smetana. The libretto was originally written in German by Josef Wenzig, and was then translated into Czech by Ervin Špindler. In Czech historical myth, Libuše, the title character, prophesied the founding of Prague. The opera was composed in 1871-1872 for the coronation of Franz Josef as Czech king. This didn't happen and Smetana saved Libuše for the opening of the National Theatr...
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Libuše is a '"festival opera" in three acts, with music by Bedřich Smetana. The libretto was originally written in German by Josef Wenzig, and was then translated into Czech by Ervin Špindler. In Czech historical myth, Libuše, the title character, prophesied the founding of Prague. The opera was composed in 1871-1872 for the coronation of Franz Josef as Czech king. This didn't happen and Smetana saved Libuše for the opening of the National Theatre in Prague, which took place nine years later on 11 June 1881. After the destruction of the National Theatre in a fire, the same opera opened the reconstructed theatre in 1883. The first US performance was reported to have occurred March 1986, in a concert version at Carnegie Hall with Eve Queler and the Opera Orchestra of New York.
Commentators have noted the pageant-like nature of the opera and the influence of Richard Wagner in the music.
Act I
The brothers Chrudoš and Sťáhlav are fighting over the settlement of their father's estate, with...
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