Bedřich Smetana: My Country / Má vlast

My Country, the monumental cycle of symphonic poems by Bedřich Smetana (1824–1884), is a unique apotheosis of the composer’s love for his motherland. Smetana himself wrote a brief outline of the contents of the cycle’s individual parts. The work, which he dedicated to the city of Prague, was first performed on November 5, 1882. Its import, most notably in the darkest times for the Czech nation, was perhaps most eloquently expressed in 1939 by the author, Jan Drda: “It is not a poem, it’s a prophecy. A spiritual vision of the beautiful land which has accompanied generation after generation, a message of hope and love harking back to the past and pointing to the future… A land from whose people have arisen such truly prophetic figures as was recently Bedřich Smetana, is indeed invincible.”

The stage presentation of My Country, in a production which received its first performance on December 8, 2005, posed a major challenge to the Prague State Opera’s ballet and orchestra, the latter of which had to prove its capacity to bend the unwritten code under which it has been regarded as “merely” an opera ensemble. The moving spirits behind the project, librettist Martin Hrdinka and leading Slovak choreographer Ján Ďurovčík, decided to enhance in their spectacular full-length ballet production the message of Smetana’s work by a multilayered visual presentation. Although the final product of their endeavour duly echoes contemporary developments in ballet art, it is at the same time highly accessible, as well as being finely tuned to the spirit of Smetana’s score, with the stories told by the individual tone poems newly encoded as artistically mature and highly individual reflections on this country’s modern history. Ján Ďurovčík’s choreography is centered around ensemble scenes taking maximum avail of the corps de ballet’s dispositions, and of the Prague State Opera’s spacious stage. The production’s revived premiere in the 2008/2009 season will also become a fine opportunity for debut appearances by a number of new members of the Prague State Opera ballet ensemble.

Renewed Premiere: Dec 4, 2008