2024-03-05 02:46:20
Saturday’s concert in Prague’s National Theater commemorated the 200th anniversary of Bedřich Smetana’s birth with music from all of the composer’s operas. People also watched the sold-out gala evening on a screen located on the piazzetta next to the building. Prime Minister Petr Fiala and Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda, both from ODS, and Minister of Agriculture Marek Výborný from KDU-ČSL arrived at the festive event. The audience gave a standing ovation at the end.
The almost four-hour program started at half past six in the evening, the recording can be viewed retrospectively on the website of Czech Television.
After the festive prelude, the audience heard parts of the operas Brandenburg in Bohemia, Viola and Dalibor. After the first break, the organizers included samples from The Bartered Bride, Two Widows, Hubička and Tejemství, followed by Devil’s Wall after the second break. For the final, the organizers chose Libuš and her Prophecy. Individual pieces were appreciated by the audience with applause.
Robert Jindra, Tomáš Netopil, Jiří Rožeň and Slovak guest Rastislav Štúr took turns at the conductor’s desk. Kateřina Kněžíková, Štěpánka Pučálková, Dana Burešová, Richard Samek, Aleš Briscein and Adam Plachetka sang. All were accompanied by the orchestra of the National Theatre, whose roots go back to the period of the Provisional Theatre, or the predecessor of the national stage, i.e. to the second half of the 19th century. Originally, Eva Urbanová was also supposed to perform, but she was replaced by Mária Porubčinová. Due to illness, one of the soloists also dropped out.
The evening was sold out, but some seats remained free in the end. The theater has prescribed a dress code for this occasion. Men were supposed to wear a tuxedo or black suit, women a long evening dress. Some visitors did not follow the rules. The presenters reprimanded several gentlemen in sweaters for this.
In addition to politicians such as the deputy speaker of the Chamber Věra Kovářová from the Starostové and independents movement or senator Jiří Drahoš, singer Dagmar Pecková and billionaire Karel Janeček were in the audience. The gala concert was preceded by an afternoon debate with singers, conductors and members of the orchestra. Visitors could see and also learn a traditional ballroom dance called Czech beseda.
Smetana, who lived from 1824 to 1884, was inextricably linked with the development of Czech music, opera and the National Theatre. As a composer and the first conductor of the Provisional Theatre, he shaped the musical environment of the time and the opera ensemble, which later became the basis for an expanded ensemble operating in the coveted representative building of the National Theatre.
Starting this Friday, an exhibition of original costumes from various productions commemorates the composer’s operas at the Bedřich Smetana Museum in Prague. Thanks to the work of restorers, those interested can see them in the form in which the audience saw them in the second half of the 19th century in the Provisional and National Theatres.