Skroup: Dratenik

[mikehopf]

On Czech Radio Saturday night.

Composed in 1826 and generally considered to be the first of its kind(?)


Operní večer: František Škroup: Dráteník.
Záznam scénického uvedení opery v rámci Olomouckých barokních slavností 2022.
Účinkují:
Matúš Šimko (Dráteník)
Lenka Cafourková Ďuricová (Růžena,
Vincenc Ignác Novotný (Vojtěch)
Zuzana Badárová (Liduška)
Aleš Janiga (Květenský)
Jiří Miroslav Procházka (Lána)
Martin Vodrážka (Kůl)
Martin Mihál (Chmelenský)
a Volantes Orchestra, nastudoval a řídí Marek Čermák
Hudební režie Antonín Schindler, zvuk Zdeněk Slavotínek
Připravil a uvádí Vojtěch Babka. (2 hrs.)

[BerlinExpat]

The first of its kind explained:

190 years ago, on February 2, 1826, the singspiel "Dráteník" (wire binder) was staged for the first time in the sold-out Estates Theatre in Prague. The opus by František Škroup (1801-1862) was the first opera with an original Czech libretto.

František Škroup was only 25 years old when he composed the opera. He was studying law in Prague at the time. He financed his studies through music lessons and as a temp in the Estates Theatre. Škroup was also involved in amateur theatre and in 1823 was a co-founder of the first Czech opera association. In 1823, the popular opera "The Swiss Family" by the Austrian composer Josef Weigl was performed in the Estates Theatre in Czech translation. The performance prompted Škroup to write an opera with a Czech libretto. The poet Josef Krasoslav Chmelenský worked on the libretto for several months, and Škroup finished the score at the end of 1825. The premiere of the first Czech opera was a major event. At that time, the audience in the Estates Theatre included well-known personalities from Czech cultural life, including the playwright Josef Kajetán Tyl and the historian František Palacký. The opera was a great success. Škroup, who sang the lead role of Wirebinder at the premiere, gave up his law studies and henceforth devoted himself exclusively to music.

[eschiss1]

Tyl was very incidentally the subject of a biographical play by Samberk for which Dvorak wrote 9 numbers of incidental music, of which I know only the overture, usually called "My Home" (Op.62).