FULL Soudnicky oder Heiteres Bezirksgericht 3 Opera-Sketches (Šimon Voseček) Prague 2008

Information on the Performance

• Work Title: Soudnicky oder Heiteres Bezirksgericht 3 Opera-Sketches  
• Composer: Voseček Šimon   
• Libretto: Jan Panenka    Libretto Text, Libretto Index
• Venue & Opera Company: Theater Illusion, Prague, Czech Republic  
• Recorded: June 6, 2008
• Type: Staged Opera Live
• Singers: Opernstudio des Prager Konservatoriums
• Conductor:   
• Orchestra:
• Stage Director:   
• Costume Designer:   

Information about the Recording

• Published by: Šimon Voseček  
• Date Published: 2018  
• Format: Unknown
• Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
• Subtitles: nosubs  

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE

The Judges (originally Žižkov Duets , in the German version Das heitere Bezirksgerich ) is an opera consisting of three acts (“opera sketches”) and two interludes by the Czech-Austrian composer Šimon Voseček to a libretto by Jan Panenka based on three of the Judges by František Němec . It premiered on 13 November 2000 at the Žižkov Theatre as part of the Unconventional Žižkov Autumn festival , performed by students of the Prague Conservatory .

The Judges is the first opera by composer Šimon Voseček. He wrote it at the age of twenty, while studying composition at the Prague Conservatory with Otomar Kvěch , and before his move to Vienna in 2002.

The theme was three short courtroom plays, mostly from Žižkov during the First Republic , by František Němec (1902–1963), specifically from the collection Dáma na pavlači a jíne courtroom plays : these are the stories Mladý muž Bob a pan Trmejš , Slečna Upejpová and Dáma a apropó . According to them, the libretto was written by the then dramaturg of the National Theatre opera Jan Panenka (1952–2005). The relatively short opera, lasting just over half an hour, consists of a prelude evoking the atmosphere of the 1930s and three episodes connected by two interludes; in addition to the protagonists of the individual stories, who can be played by the same actors, they are accompanied by two singers (hence the original title of the opera Žižkov Duets ). It is orchestrated for only six musicians.

The Žižkov Duets were written for students of the Prague Conservatory, and the cellist, teacher and classical music promoter Jiří Hošek was involved in their performance alongside Kvěch . The Conservatory also performed them twice. With the first production, in addition to the first performance at the Unconventional Žižkov Autumn festival, [ 5 ] which Jiří Hošek founded, it also guest-starred at the National Theatre, specifically at its then chamber stage, the Kolowrat Theatre (February 11, 2001), as part of the Opera 2001 festival. The production also visually referred to the 1930s. Voseček later reworked this opera and the new version, now under the definitive title Soudničky, was first performed by the Prague Conservatory on June 6, 2008, at the Talent – ​​Illusion Theatre in Vinohrady (then the venue of the Prague Children’s Opera ).

Although there were only a few performances and the critical response was limited, this opera left a favorable impression: its success is mentioned by, for example, critic Helena Havlíková and Vlasta Reittererová praised Voseček’s “pregnant neoclassical” music as well as other aspects of the production, which she considered exemplary for an art school production: “All the components fit together organically and were entertaining.” The new version in 2008 was also a critical success; Lenka Šaldová wrote in Hudební rozhledy : “Voseček, inspired by the excellent libretto by Jan Panenka, is a good theater piece: the tempo-rhythmically difficult parts place considerable demands on expressive singing/declamation, the funny sketches require precise punchlines from the singers/actors.”

The plot of the opera

Mr. Trmejš and Picardy
The Žižkov barber master Trmejš has been drinking alcohol since morning to prepare for a visit from Bob, the suitor of his daughter Hedvička. He keeps repeating his prepared speech, but the thought of his daughter leaving home touches the master so much that his thoughts run to his dream, exotic Picardy . Mrs. Trmejšová, who is in charge of organizing the important day, finally gets into an argument with him, which is only interrupted by the arrival of the suitor. The humiliated head of the family welcomes him and subjects him to a flowery speech, in which Picardy gets involved, but Bob is a down-to-earth soul and his attention does not belong to the bride he has in mind or to the potential father-in-law and mother-in-law, but to the prepared lunch. His attitude irritates Master Trmejša, an argument breaks out, and finally a fight in which Bob succumbs and flees. The courtship thus leads the participants to the courtroom instead of to the altar.

(1st interlude – dedicated to private kisses in the bathroom)

Miss Upejpová and the sideboard
Thirty-five years ago, the spinster Miss Upejpová looked for a sideboard in a shop on Cimburkova Street that was to be part of her wedding outfit. Today, as usual, she walks past the window and makes sure that the sideboard is still waiting for her (she does not accept that the shopkeeper will change it from time to time). A young lady is about to enter the shop and timidly asks Miss Upejpová how much she thinks such a sideboard would cost – she is about to get married. Miss Upejpová mocks her foolishness – women do not get married these days and men do not, otherwise she would not have remained single. She starts cursing the young lady, threatening her with an umbrella, and when the shopkeeper tries to calm her down, she gets caught too. Miss Upejpová is thus also taken to court for her misdeeds.

(2nd interlude – also dedicated to Anna F.)

Lady and by the way
Mr. Rada asks the recorder what the dispute is today. The prostitute Kosinová is suing the women from the market for defamation for the fourth time. Mr. Rada wants to impress the devoted recorder by throwing the women out in a quarter of an hour. A quarrelsome bunch of puppies enters: next to the plaintiff, Zdrapáná Terka, Capouch the Bristle-Headed, old Dorota, and Nosatá Mařena is missing. Mr. Rada manages to calm them down by addressing them as “ladies” and using the magic word “apropó”. The enchanted and honored prostitutes of Žižkov calm down, sign the peace agreement that Mr. Rada offers, and leave with the nobility that befits “ladies”.

 

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