Comedy on the Bridge
Music by Bohuslav Martinů · libretto by Bohuslav Martinů · premiered 1937
Veselohra na mostě (Comedy on the Bridge) is a radio opera in one act by Bohuslav Martinů to a Czech libretto by the composer, based on the comedy by Václav Kliment Klicpera and composed in 1935 in Polička. It has later been staged successfully, in America and Czechoslovakia. The composer at this time in his career was able to explore the possibilities of new media for opera in two works composed in 1935 in response to commissions from Czechoslovak Radio: Hlas lesa (The Voice of the Forest), and Veselohra na mostě (Comedy on the Bridge). The latter's "simplicity of means and effective characterization fulfil perfectly the requirements for radio opera".
Text from the Wikipedia article "Comedy on the Bridge", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
About the Composer
Bohuslav Jan Martinů (Czech: [ˈboɦuslaf ˈmarcɪnuː] ; December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He wrote 6 symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores, and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal, and instrumental works. He became a violinist in the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, and briefly studied under Czech composer and violinist Josef Suk. After leaving Czechoslovakia in 1923 for Paris, Martinů deliberately withdrew from the Romantic style in which he had been trained. During the 1920s he experimented with modern French stylistic developments, exemplified by his orchestral works Half-time and La Bagarre. He also adopted jazz idioms, for instance…
Text from the Wikipedia article "Bohuslav Martinů", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Other Operas by Bohuslav Martinů
- Hlas lesa (1935)
- Hry o Marii (1935)
- Divadlo za branou (1936)
- Alexandre bis (1937)
- Ariane (1943)