FULL Hry o Márii (Martinu) Bratislava 2017 Opera Studio
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: Hry o Márii or Plays about Mary
- Composer: Martinu Bohuslav
- Libretto: various texts Libretto Text, Libretto Index
- Venue & Opera Company: Operného štúdia Konzervatória, Tolstého 11, Bratislava, Slovakia
- Recorded: 2017
- Type: Staged Opera Live
- Singers: unknown
- Conductor: D.Simandl
- Orchestra:
- Stage Director: R. Bajzík
- Stage Designer: R. Bajzík
- Costume Designer: R. Bajzík
Information about the Recording
- Published by: operastudio ba
- Date Published: 2025
- Format: Unknown
- Quality Video: 3 Audio:3
- Subtitles: nosubs
- Video Recording from: YouTube FULL VIDEO
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
Plays about Mary , H. 236, is a 1934 opera by composer Bohuslav Martinů .
In the early 1930s, Martinů , extending his stay in Paris , turned away from the French avant-garde and began composing stage works on national themes for the Czech stage. After Špalíček , he began to process various Marian and, more broadly, religious stories into a cycle that he characteristically called opera-špalíček .
In France at that time, there was great interest in historical theatre studies , such as the work of theorist Gaston Baty, who identified plays from the Middle Ages as the initial beginnings of European theatre . His expert was also the director and theatre critic Jindřich Honzl , with whom Martinů constantly consulted his intentions while composing in 1933–1934.
The opera ultimately contains four stories, each from a different literary field and each differently treated. It is divided into two parts, each with an even shorter prologue and a so-called grand play ( mirákl ).
Opera content
Part I
The Wise and the Foolish Virgins The liturgical play from the 12th century was translated, or rather reworked on its themes, by Vítězslav Nezval . The story of the ten virgins ( Mt 25:1-13 ), who are awaiting the coming of the Lord. But the foolish ones take little oil with them in their lamps. When the Lord comes, their lamps do not burn. The foolish virgins gather oil, and in the meantime the prudent ones, with their burning lamps, enter the feast with the Lord, and the door is shut.
Mariken of Nimegue Martinů originally adapted the Flemish theme from the 15th century based on a French translation by the Belgian writer and playwright Henri Ghéon, and later received the translation by Vilém Závada and adapted the finished score to it. The beautiful Mariken allows herself to be seduced by the devil into the path of evil in the city. However, in a small town she sees a play about a Masquerade and the Virgin Mary and does penance, for which her soul is redeemed.
Part II
The Nativity of the Lord A montage of various folk texts from a series of Christmas plays.
Sister Paskalina In this part, Martinů elaborated the legend of Sister Paskalina, translated by Julius Zeyer , but supplemented it with various other sources – with commenting texts from the Latin liturgy , but also from Moravian folk poetry. Paskalina, who left the monastery for worldly love, is sentenced to be burned at the stake for the uncommitted murder of her beloved, from where she is saved by the grace of the Virgin Mary.
Quoted from Wikipedia