OF CZECH OPERAS
BEDŘICH SMETANA
- THE OPERA DALIBOR
COMMEMORATIVE POSTAGE STAMP
B. Smetana grew up in the period of the Revival. For a long time he used to compose only instrumental music. His activity as a composer of text-related music began no sooner than after his return from Sweden (1856-61). The first opera were the "Brandenburgers in Bohemia" soon followed by the "Bartered Bride". Smetana used to set himself new tasks again and again, creating without repetitions and seeking to unveil the essential features of the Czech nationhood which he could formulate in art.
Dalibor, the third of Smetana's operas, was first performed in May 1868. The authors of its libretto were Josef Wenzig and Ervín Špindler. Immediately after the first performance the opera met with opposition. The official critics received it as an imitation of Wagner, without understanding that the music is both bold and unusual but also completely original and purely Czech. The old legend about an incarcerated knight who learned by himself to play violine because of need celebrates Dalibor as a striker who defends loyalty and friendship even at the cost of his life.
