There is evidence that
Dalibor was the opera that Smetana rated
more highly than any of his others, yet you'll struggle to come
across it outside of the Czech lands. Its last outing in Britain - that
I'm aware of - was an Edinburgh Festival production back in 1998. As
with so many other Czech works, however, Jiři Bělohlávek has determined to
set that right. This concert performance was recorded live - some applause
is retained at the very end of Act 3 - by the BBC at the Barbican earlier in
2015, and it's a welcome addition to the work's limited
discography.
True,
Dalibor isn't as instantly appealing as
Smetana's comedies, most obviously
The Bartered Bride, but
there is still a huge amount to enjoy. The plot concerns the knight Dalibor,
who is sentenced to death by starvation for killing the Burgrave of
Ploskovice in revenge for the murder of his friend, the musician Zdeněk. His
ardour wins the love of the Burgrave's sister, Milada, who, in an
undoubted echo of
Fidelio, disguises herself as a boy and enters
the gaoler's service in order to rescue Dalibor. However, their
escape attempt comes to naught, and Dalibor and Milada both die in the
attempt.
It's a patriotic opera rather than a nationalist one - both heroes
and villains are Czechs - but there are plenty of opportunities for rousing
tunes, such as the mercenaries who sing in the tavern below Prague Castle,
and the violin solos, which evoke Dalibor's loss of Zdeněk, are
definitely intended to stir the soul. In many ways, it's
Smetana's most progressive stage work. For a start, there is no
overture: instead Smetana plunges the audience straight into the drama of
the opening courtroom scene, and this begins a slow-burn first act that
builds steadily in tension rather than climaxing on some jolly tunes. The
accusations of Wagnerianism that so damaged Smetana's reputation in
the eyes of its first audiences are, surely, exaggerated. There is some
motivic re-working as the opera develops, and there are some masterly
transitions, such as the transferal from the Lower Quarter of Prague into
the house of Beneš the gaoler, but Smetana is a long way from
Wagner's developed way of doing things, and his music is always
direct and very appealing.
No doubt the reason Bělohlávek decided to mount this work in London was
because he had assembled an impressive Czech cast to do the job, and very
strong they are. As Dalibor himself, Richard Samek has a golden, heroic
tenor that does the job beautifully. He is cut from the same cloth as a
German Heldentenor, but is so beautifully smooth that there is never a hint
of barking. He is eloquent in the court scene of Act 1, and his visions of
Zdeněk's ghost (more hints of Fidelio) are very moving. He is then
beautifully poignant during the Act 3 scene when he is brought news of his
execution, and his final death-duet with Milada is very good. Conversely,
Aleš Voráček, who plays the small role of Vitek, has a very different tenor
voice, more earthy and comic, and the contrast is very good. As King
Vladislav, however, Ivan Kusnjer is too like a tenor, and doesn't
sound quite baritonal enough. It's hard to hear Jan Stave as much
more than a trainee Rocco. His Beneš, the gaoler, is bluff and earthy, but
without a huge amount of charm. Svatopluk Sem, on the other hand, sings
Budivoj like a proper lyric baritone. The women are very fine, too. Dana
Burašová sings Milada with strength, nobility and pathos: you can imagine
her as Beethoven's Leonore. Her love duet with Dalibor in the prison,
the climax of the work, grows in ecstasy into a tremendous climax, and her
death scene is very strong. Alžběta Poláčková is a light, young-sounding
Jitka, who engages well with the drama and has a brighter voice to
distinguish her from Burašová.
The orchestra play this unfamiliar music with great skill, and the BBC
Singers throw themselves into the work, both in spirit and in pronunciation.
However, there are alternative Dalibors out there, if you're prepared
to look for them. Most of them are recorded by Supraphon, the formerly state
owned Czech recording company, and surely the greatest ever achievement of
the Czechoslovakian Communist Party. I have one that was recorded in the
Rudolfinum in 1995, with the chorus and orchestra of the Prague National
Theatre, and it's pretty special, led by Eva Urbanová as Milada.
It's hard to find, but it's worth the search.
Incidentally,
Onyx provide the
libretto online, not in the CD case, but the Czech and English texts
aren't given in parallel and, irritatingly, you'll have to do a lot of
chopping and changing if you want to follow both text together.
Simon Thompson
