Vítězslav Novák - Lucerna / The Lantern opera
zpíváno v češtině
music by: Vitezslav Novak
original words by: Alois Jirasek
libretto by: Hanus Jelinek
soprano: Eva Depoltova
baritone: Rene Tucek
bass: Karel Berman
baritone: Vaclav Zitek
contralto: Anna Barova
soprano: Jana Jonasova
tenor: Vladimir Dolezal
tenor: Vojtech Kocian
bass: Karel Petr
tenor: Miroslav Kopp
bass: Dalibor Jedlicka
contralto: Drahomira Drobkova
spoken role: Josef Mixa
spoken role: Josef Kemr
spoken role: Bohuslav Cap
spoken role: Josef Pehr
spoken role: Ljuba Skorepova
chorus master: Milan Maly
conductor: Frantisek Vajnar
Prague Radio Choir
Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra
Stereo studio recording, 1984.
Czech composer Vitezslav Novak (1870 - 1949), whose name the general musical public has most often associated with the Slovak Suite, in fact left a fairly extensive compositional legacy, including four operas. Of these, The Lantern, an opera in four acts to the libretto of Hanus Jelinek, based on the eponymous play by Alois Jirasek, was written between 1919 and 1922. In the overall context of Czech opera production, The Lantern ranks alongside the most quintessentially poetic works. Novak, who was thoroughly enchanted by the fairy-tale atmosphere of Jirasek´s yarn, fitted his opera with an idyllic musical vocabulary befittingly portraying the individual characters and providing masterly renditions of the various moods and situations pertinent to the plot. He did not hesitate to combine singing parts with melodramatic elements, incorporating into his opera spoken parts of ambulant musicians and miscellaneous other cameo rustic characters. The Lantern was premiered at Prague's National Theatre, on 13th May, 1923. Since that day, it has evolved into a repertory vehicle sought after by major Czech and Slovak opera houses. The many years that have elapsed since its first performance have detracted nothing from its poetry and melodic charm. Novak's The Lantern has retained a niche in the gallery of Czech operas which is inimitably and incontestably its own.
Novak's The Lantern: One of the most quintessentially poetic Czech operas.
(Supraphon 2002)
Parametr | Hodnota |
format | CD audio |