Organization

Singer

Tenor

Aleš Voráček

Shepherd Jirka

Jaroslav Březina

Ondřej Koplík

Petr Levíček

Mezzo-soprano

Václava Krejčí Housková

Kate

Jana Hrochová

Jana Iskrová

Mother

Jitka Zerhauová

Baritone

Jiří Sulženko

Devil Marbuel

David Nykl

Roman Hoza

Bass

Lucifer

Jan Šťáva

Josef Škarka

The Devil's Gate-Keeper

Tadeáš Hoza

Petr Karas

A Devil Guard

Soprano

Daniela Straková-Šedrlová

Princess

Pavla Vykopalová

Eva Daňhelová

A Chambermaid

Marta Reichelová

The Princess's Chamberlain

Ivo Musil

A Musician

Martin Pavlíček

Řidič

Radek Krul

Lada Novotná

Učitelka

Stage director

Jiří Heřman

Conductor

Jakub Klecker

Robert Kružík

Lighting designer

Daniel Tesař

Costume designer

Alexandra Grusková

Set designer

Pavel Svoboda

Choreographer

Mário Radačovský

Dramaturge

Patricie Částková

Chorus master

Josef Pančík

ND Brno

čeština

Čert a Káča -  (The Devil and Kate)

Brno

Czech Republic

Janáčkovo divadlo

Public

The Devil and Kate

angličtina

Approved

O čerty v českých pověstech nikdy nebyla nouze. Vždy rádi nabídli pomocnou ruku tu s postavením hráze rybníka v jižních Čechách nebo vybudováním hradu. Často...

Antonín Dvořák: Čert a Káča

What is the most important place in the castle? Well, the kitchen! And in the one in Mokrá Lhota right now the cakes smell beautiful and someone has already come across a keg with beer. It is no wonder that all the castle servants and the people from the village slowly gather here. In the end, why couldn't the dancer be right here, just move some pots and there's plenty of room. Everyone flocks to the dance, only Káča sits by the stove. No one notices her again… The smell attracted even a handsome hunting bachelor. It's the devil Marbuel sent by Lucifer for the evil steward and the princess, but when Káča is full, it's such a big attraction. What if he had some fun for the first time and invited Káča to dance?

There was never a shortage of devils in Czech legends. They have always been happy to offer a helping hand with the construction of a pond dam in southern Bohemia or the construction of a castle. Often people managed to outwit the devil, and in memory of this we can still see the various devil stones that remained when the hellish man failed to complete the task before the first rooster crowed. Then there are fairy-tale devils, they are actually quite nice mules, who try to play everyone in vain in the marriage and where they come from. No wonder they found themselves on the stage. To this day, Tyl's The Devil on Earth  (1850) is occasionally played  about a young devil, Salamander, who quickly discovers that fooling people is not just that. An important role is played by Káča, an ugly and bitter woman who will cause a lot of evil. Káča is one of the characters and fairy tales by Božena Němcová The Devil and Káča , even though it doesn't end well for Káča, because the shepherd Jirka simply throws her with a fur coat into the pond.
In 1897, the young teacher and writer Adolf Wenig entered the first prize for the libretto Čert a Káča, which won the first prize. Dvořák, almost 60, did not pay much attention to the opera genre at the time. Jakobín had its premiere in 1888, and in addition to the reworking of Dimitri and Jakobín, Dvořák's attention was turned to symphonic works. However, even in it it was easy to recognize Dvořák's gift for dramatic works, and a review of the Viennese performance of Kytice directly pointed this out: Antonín Dvořák wants to stage. His symphonic poems are dramas without a stage, music without singers. Let's add a singer and the opera is done. Perhaps it was this response that once again aroused the desire for opera in Dvořák. The composer himself revealed how he came to the libretto of the Devil and Káča:

Master, when did you think of composing Devil and Káča?
                This opera has a very original history. Once - it could be two years - I met Dr. Riegra. We stopped and dr. Rieger asked me: What are you working on? - I replied: Well, I work very hard. - With a clear glance, Dr. asked me. Rieger goes on: Wouldn't you like to compose an opera? - Sure, dramatic music blows me. - Dr. Rieger: Director Šubert has a libretto by his nephew, entitled Devil and Spinner. If you are interested, read them. - I went to see Robert and I was a libretto when I read. Although good friends, such as VJ Novotný, whom I asked for advice, they objected and stated that the text has no lyrics at all, and Dr. Rieger, who was keenly interested in my new opera, found the libretto unsuitable. However, I thought they were original, I liked them as something completely new. I saw in him a connection between the folk-characteristic and the fairy-tale elements, and I liked to give up the lyrics, which in this case could only be of minor importance. (…)  Antonín Dvořák from an interview with Egon Šamberk

Dvořák composed part of the opera at the castle in Lužany, where local legends are full of devils. One is connected directly with Káča, because not far from the village is Zelená hora with a clearing, which is still called Na tanečku. It is said that there used to be a pub where people from the surrounding villages met. A girl also came here, the kind of angry type who looks in vain for a dancer and a young man to marry. Her name was Káča and one evening she cursed angrily that she  might turn around with the devil.. Before midnight, an unknown hunting bachelor appeared and invited Káča to dance, and when midnight struck the tower of the Lužany chateau, the entire pub fell into hell. Dvořák in Lužany also went to the pub to listen to a local band and allegedly borrowed a lot from them. In the end, Káča's dance-breaking is actually to blame for everything, so the waltz, polka and even the devils dance in hell with opera.
Dvořák liked Wenig's libretto, but he did ask for some adjustments. At his request, the aria of the princess has joined, where she regrets her sins and waits in fear for the devil to come. Even the practical side of things was important for the theaters of the knowledgeable Dvořák, and Wenig later recalled working together: Then, when the master composed the opera, I came to it more often. He wished for some changes to the text, quite insignificant. Somewhere the lyrics had an excessive gradient, which bothered the epic breadth of his musical expression… Dvořák liked to illuminate every stage situation beforehand before he finished composing the scene. Once I came to him, he sat down at the piano, found the appropriate place in the text in his manuscript, and said, "Now tell me, how do you imagine that the devil will carry Káča on his back? It will tell you: on your back, but how is he supposed to sing then? ”- I explained that it would only be marked if Káča was heavy and the devil weak. "Very well," says the master, advancing to the door. "So this is the gates of hell, you hell, and show me how to do it."
             The premiere of Čerta a Káči at the National Theater on November 23, 1899 was a great success. And let's not - Dvořák managed to create a funny opera that still entertains small and large audiences.

English

The Devil and Kate by Dvořák, Od (2021/2021), Režie Jiří Heřman,, Dirigent Jakub Klecker, Robert Kružík, Janáčkovo divadlo, Brno, Czech Republic

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