The Year of Czech Music, marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of Bedřich Smetana, the founder of Czech national music, will be celebrated by the Opera of the National Theatre Košice. On Saturday, 22nd June, as its final premiere of the 2023/2024 season, the theatre will present a concert performance of Smetana's opera Dalibor in a unique musical interpretation and casting.
The opera Dalibor was composed by Bedřich Smetana to mark the laying of the foundation stone of the National Theatre in Prague in 1868. The libretto, written by the German-speaking author Josef Wenzig, revisits a well-known folk legend inspired by events from the reign of the Czech and Hungarian King Vladislav II Jagiellon (1456–1516). This work is a romantic tragedy and is regarded as a seminal piece in the Czech opera heritage.
The works of the great Czech composer Bedřich Smetana are frequently performed on opera and concert stages, and it is no different at the National Theatre in Košice. Since its founding in 1945, the opera house has presented 14 productions of his operas, including nine performances of his most famous work, The Bartered Bride. The opera Dalibor will be performed on the stage of the Historical Building of the National Theatre Košice for the third time. The first performance was on 6 November 1953, under the musical direction of conductor Josef Bartl and directed by Kornel Hájek. Twenty years later, another production was staged by director Drahomíra Bargárová with musical direction by Ladislav Holoubek.
The new concert performance of Dalibor will be exceptional not only because of its soloist line-up but also due to the musical direction, which is in the hands of the internationally renowned Czech conductor Tomáš Hanus. Born in Brno, Hanus studied violin at the conservatory and later became a student of the legendary Czech conductor Jiří Bělohlávek. Throughout his career, he has collaborated with major world orchestras and opera houses, such as the Vienna State Opera and the Opéra National de Paris, which have entrusted him with the interpretation of not only Czech operas.
An exceptional audience experience is guaranteed not only for opera enthusiasts but also for all attendees, thanks to the remarkable interpretation of the work and the cast. The performance will feature outstanding guest and resident soloists: Eliška Weissová as Milada, Peter Berger as Dalibor, Marián Lukáč as Vladislav, Michaela Várady as Jitka, Juraj Hollý as Vitek, Michal Onufer as Budivoj, and Jozef Benci as Beneš.
"I am very excited about the concert performance of Bedřich Smetana's exceptional opera Dalibor in the Year of Czech Music. The Opera of the National Theatre Košice concludes its 2023/24 theatre season with this opera, following productions of Wagner's Tannhäuser, Verdi's Macbeth, and gala performances of Emmerich Kálmán's The Csárdás Princess. This fits perfectly with the notional theme of the entire season, which is 'Freedom and Power.' Dalibor tells the story of an antihero who decides to take justice into his own hands, facing judgment and moral condemnation from society, ultimately meeting a tragic end. The world-renowned conductor Tomáš Hanus is preparing this concert with an exceptional cast: leading Czech soprano and soloist of the Vienna State Opera Eliška Weissová, tenors Peter Berger and Juraj Hollý, as well as outstanding resident soloists Michaela Várady and Marián Lukáč," says Roland Khern Tóth, Director of the Opera NDKE.
