Divadlo za branou
Music by Bohuslav Martinů · premiered 1935
Divadlo za bránou (The Theatre beyond the Gate, H.251, sometimes translated as The Suburban Theatre) is a 1936 stage work in three acts by Bohuslav Martinů with his own libretto; the first act is a ballet pantomime (with no words); acts two and three are entitled opera buffa. The work is a mixture of theatrical styles: ballet and pantomime, opera buffa and folk dance and music from Czechoslovakia. He aimed to employ texts "once the vehicle of genuine folk theatre" to emphasize the theatrical principle rather than what he described as "a musical libretto" where music simply accompanies the nuances of the drama. The title refers to a place of entertainment outside the gates of a city, such as where a travelling troupe might perform.
Text from the Wikipedia article "Divadlo za branou (opera)", 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
- Comedy on the Bridge (1935)
- Hlas lesa (1935)
- Hry o Marii (1935)
- Alexandre bis (1937)
- Ariane (1943)