The Secret (opera)
Encyclopedia
The Secret is a comic opera in three acts by Bedřich Smetana
. The libretto was written by Eliška Krásnohorská
. The premiere took place September 18, 1878 at the Nové České Divadlo (New Czech Theatre) in Prague
.
The librettist had set the action in the small town of Bĕlá in the Bezdĕz
mountains, visible from Smetana's home in the country. Fighting his increasing deafness and resultant depression, Smetana made a few small changes to Krásnohorská's original draft and delivered a full score to the New Czech Theatre on 4 August 1877, for the premiere in September. The through composition evident in The Brandenburgers in Bohemia and Libuše
is absent; a pot-pourri overture prefaces a sequence of choruses, duets, arias and ensemble pieces, but the characters are portrayed with more feeling and drawn from life, rather than the more stock characters of The Bartered Bride
and The Two Widows
.
The UK premiere was in Oxford in 1955 under Jack Westrup
, and it was performed at the Camden Festival
in 1972 under Vilém Tauský
.
Kalina has had a house built for himself across the town square from the Malinas’. He is now widowed but puts on a show of wealth. He is unaware that his son Vitek has fallen in love with the daughter of his rival councillor, the brother of Róza. Kalina discovers by chance an ancient document and map which contain directions from an old friar Barnabáš, how he might find treasure hidden under Mount Bezděz. As he is in debt, Kalina determines to take the prompts of the friar. However, the tunnel he digs leads him to underneath a room in the Malinas’ house, where his son has been making his farewells to his forbidden love Blaženka.
It becomes clear that the aim of the old Barnabáš was to make Kalina discover his ‘treasure’: his old love Róza. The opera ends happily, with a double wedding.
Bedrich Smetana
Bedřich Smetana was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style which became closely identified with his country's aspirations to independent statehood. He is thus widely regarded in his homeland as the father of Czech music...
. The libretto was written by Eliška Krásnohorská
Eliška Krásnohorská
Eliška Krásnohorská was a Czech feminist author. She was introduced to literature and feminism by Karolína Světlá...
. The premiere took place September 18, 1878 at the Nové České Divadlo (New Czech Theatre) in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
.
Background
Krásnohorská proposed the idea for a new opera to Smetana two weeks after the opening of The Kiss, but kept details of the plot a secret from the composer until July 1877, when a draft outline, drawing on several sources, including Les femmes et le secret by La Fontaine, was sent to him.The librettist had set the action in the small town of Bĕlá in the Bezdĕz
Bezděz (Česká Lípa District)
Bezděz is a village and municipality in Česká Lípa District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. -References:...
mountains, visible from Smetana's home in the country. Fighting his increasing deafness and resultant depression, Smetana made a few small changes to Krásnohorská's original draft and delivered a full score to the New Czech Theatre on 4 August 1877, for the premiere in September. The through composition evident in The Brandenburgers in Bohemia and Libuše
Libuše (opera)
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...
is absent; a pot-pourri overture prefaces a sequence of choruses, duets, arias and ensemble pieces, but the characters are portrayed with more feeling and drawn from life, rather than the more stock characters of The Bartered Bride
The Bartered Bride
The Bartered Bride is a comic opera in three acts by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, to a libretto by Karel Sabina. The opera is considered to have made a major contribution towards the development of Czech music. It was composed during the period 1863–66, and first performed at the...
and The Two Widows
The Two Widows
The Two Widows is a two-act Czech opera by Bedřich Smetana based on the libretto of Emanuel Züngel. The libretto is based on Jean Pierre Felicien Mallefille's one-act play "Les deux veuves." The opera was composed between June 1873 and January 1874, with its first première on March 27th, 1874 at...
.
Performance history
The opera was not as successful as Smetana had hoped; after its opening run, it was seen only a dozen more times during his lifetime and was unperformed for twenty years after that. In 1922 it came back into the repertory of the Prague National Theatre.The UK premiere was in Oxford in 1955 under Jack Westrup
Jack Westrup
Sir Jack Westrup was an English musicologist, writer, teacher and occasional composer.-Biography:Jack Allan Westrup was the second of the three sons of George Westrup, insurance clerk, of Dulwich, and his wife, Harriet Sophia née Allan. He was educated at Dulwich College, London 1917-22, and at...
, and it was performed at the Camden Festival
Camden Festival
Camdem Festival was an annual spring festival held in London, England, of which opera was the central feature.Founded in 1954 and continuing until 1987, it was originally called the St Pancras Festival until 1965. It specialised in the revival of long-forgotten operas, some of which subsequently...
in 1972 under Vilém Tauský
Vilém Tauský
Vilém Tauský CBE was a Czech conductor and composer.-Life:Vilém Tauský was from a musical family: his Viennese mother had sung Mozart at the Vienna State Opera under Gustav Mahler, and her cousin was the operetta composer Leo Fall.Tauský studied with Leoš Janáček and later became a repetiteur at...
.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 18 September 1878 (Conductor: Adolf Čech) |
|---|---|---|
| Blaženka, Malina's daughter | soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... |
Marie Zofie Sittová |
| Bonifác, veteran soldier | bass | František Mareš |
| Vít, a huntsman, Kalina's son | tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... |
Antonín Vávra |
| Kalina, a councillor | baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or... |
Josef Lev |
| Panna Róza, Malina's sister | contralto Contralto Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above... |
Betty Fibichová Betty Fibichová Betty Fibichová was a Czechoslovak opera singer and the wife of composer Zdeněk Fibich. The greatest Czech operatic contralto of her day, she enjoyed close artistic partnerships with both Antonín Dvořák and Bedřich Smetana in addition to collaborating frequently with her husband.-Biography:Born... |
| Malina, a councillor | bass | Karel Cech |
| Skřivánek, a singer | tenor | Adolf Krössing Adolf Krössing Adolf Krössing was a Czech operatic tenor, stage director, and actor of both the stage and film. Possessing a smaller voice, Krössing impressed audiences not with his vocal prowess but with his dramatic gifts. A master of improvisation and comic timing, he excelled in character roles... |
| Jirka, a bell-ringer | tenor | Jan Sára |
| The Ghost of Barnabáš | bass | Ferdinand Koubek |
| An entrepreneur | baritone | Leopold Stopniockÿ |
| The innkeeper | soprano | Marzová |
| Chorus: Councillors, neighbours, boys and girls, threshers, bricklayers, shadows and apparitions, bagpipers. |
||
Synopsis
Twenty years before, Councillor Kalina had asked for the hand of Róza Malinova who turned him down because of his lack of wealth. Kalina then married a woman of similar status. Róza never married and regrets having rejected Kalina.Kalina has had a house built for himself across the town square from the Malinas’. He is now widowed but puts on a show of wealth. He is unaware that his son Vitek has fallen in love with the daughter of his rival councillor, the brother of Róza. Kalina discovers by chance an ancient document and map which contain directions from an old friar Barnabáš, how he might find treasure hidden under Mount Bezděz. As he is in debt, Kalina determines to take the prompts of the friar. However, the tunnel he digs leads him to underneath a room in the Malinas’ house, where his son has been making his farewells to his forbidden love Blaženka.
It becomes clear that the aim of the old Barnabáš was to make Kalina discover his ‘treasure’: his old love Róza. The opera ends happily, with a double wedding.
Discography
- 1982, Zdeněk KošlerZdenek KošlerZdeněk Košler was a Czech conductor, who played an important role in Czech musical life of the second half of 20th century, notably during the sixties and the eighties. He was particularly well-known as an opera conductor....
conductor, Prague National Theatre Orchestra and ChorusNational Theatre (Prague)The National Theatre in Prague is known as the Alma Mater of Czech opera, and as the national monument of Czech history and art.The National Theatre belongs to the most important Czech cultural institutions, with a rich artistic tradition which was created and maintained by the most distinguished...
; Jaroslav Horáček, Václav ZítekVáclav ZítekVáclav Zítek is a Czech opera singer. A lyric baritone with a beautiful timbre and a wide vocal range, he was one of the leading Czech singers of the postwar generation. He particularly excelled in portraying Janáček and Smetana heroes...
, Věra SoukupováVěra SoukupováVěra Soukupová is a Czech mezzo-soprano.Born in Prague, Soukupová studied singing at the Prague Conservatory and privately with Luis Kadeřábek and A. Mustanová-Linková...
, Daniela Šounová, Leo Marian VodičkaLeo Marian VodičkaLeo Marian Vodička is a Czech operatic tenor who has had an active international career since the early 1970s. He has sung on a number of complete opera recordings and appears in several filmed opera performances....
, Karel Průša, Oldřich Spisar, Bohuslav Maršík, Eva Hlobilová, Alfréd Hampel, Pavel Horáček - 1958, Jaroslav KrombholcJaroslav KrombholcJaroslav Krombholc was a Czech conductor. He made various recordings of Czech operas for Supraphon, notably Janáček's Káťa Kabanová, and Martinů's Julietta. He was succeeded as chief conductor of the National Theatre, Prague by Václav Talich.-References:...
conductor. Prague National Theatre Orchestra and ChorusNational Theatre (Prague)The National Theatre in Prague is known as the Alma Mater of Czech opera, and as the national monument of Czech history and art.The National Theatre belongs to the most important Czech cultural institutions, with a rich artistic tradition which was created and maintained by the most distinguished...
. Karel Kalaš, Přemysl Kočí, Štěpánka Štěpánová, Štefa Petrová, Ivo Žídek /SupraphonSupraphonSupraphon Music Publishing is a Czech record label, it is oriented mainly towards publishing classical music, with an emphasis on Czech and Slovak composers.- History :...