Was it Smetana’s Poacher?

At the beginning of the 1870s, Smetana faced a rising number of challenges to his position of artistic director of Prague’s opera ensemble. From this tense and pressured period for the composer sprang a work of immense creative grace. He seems to delight in evoking a world of people of refined manners, fine culture and the gentle atmosphere of a rural estate. Perhaps it was a relief from life’s difficulties and an escape from everyday dullness – a kind of summer fairy tale with a happy end. With The Two Widows, Smetana created a unique style of conversational opera, which Richard Strauss considered one of the best operas of 19th century. As an integral part of the Smetana Opera Cycle Ostrava 2024, the production was staged by Slovenian director and scenographer Rocc, who offers a rare non-Czech point of view on this lesser-known gem of the operatic repertoire. The opera is streamed by Slippedisc courtesy of OperaVision,

The Plot:  the calm and peaceful lives of two young widows – cousins Karolina and Anežka, who live together on a countryside estate – is suddenly stirred up by an unexpected visitor. It becomes obvious that the mysterious poacher, who suddenly appears in the estate’s forest, is not out hunting for a doe but rather pining for one of them.

Sung in Czech with subtitles in English and Czech. 

The Two Widows is streamed on Friday 26th July at 1900 CET  / 1800 London   / 1300 New York

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