The Cunning Peasant
Encyclopedia
The Cunning Peasant is an opera
by Antonín Dvořák
. The Czech-language
libretto
is by Josef Otakar Veselý.
recording, Milan Pospíšil indicates that Veselý did not solve that problem. His libretto demonstrates talent but also uncritical self-confidence and recycles traditional plot elements and even the names of characters. Both Jeník and Václav, for example, are based on models with similar names in The Bartered Bride
. The influence of the latter opera is further evidenced by the choice of a rustic setting. Similarities with the plot of The Marriage of Figaro
have also been noted.
Dvořák set the libretto without requiring any revisions but he did propose the change of name form the original Políček knížeti (A slap for the Prince). The Cunning is ironic as the protagonist is himself cheated. The composer wrote the music in 1877. His other works of the period include the Stabat Mater
, Piano Concerto
and Slavonic Dances
.
To provide a national character, Dvořák used a variety of dance and other forms in the opera, such as polka
, waltz
, sousedská, mazur
and march
, though the music remains typical of the composer. With short numbers, The Cunning Peasant is really an ensemble opera. The music is lyrical with the worlds of the Prince and the folk characters, of the lovers and plotters individually characterised with music that recurs. However, some of these portrayals also anticipate those of similar characters in later operas such as The Jacobin
. Contemporary critics saw the musical style as too symphonic. Eduard Hanslick
, for example, considered the Act 2 ballet music as better suited for a symphonic scherzo.
in 1878 and was also given in Plzeň that same year. When it was performed in Dresden
in 1882, it became only the third Czech opera to be given in Germany
. It thus represents Dvořák's first real success as an opera composer. It was performed in Hamburg
in 1883, but a poor reception in Vienna
in 1885 halted the wider progress of this and other of the composer's operas for some time. In the Czech lands, The Cunning Peasant remained popular, though attention was drawn away from it by the première of The Jacobin in 1887. Nevertheless, performances of the opera continued into the 20th century but they have tailed off since 1950.
The girls of the village are celebrating May and the love it brings (Zavítal do kraje, zavítal máj), but Bětuška is sad. The chorus try to cheer her up with the hope of the Prince's arrival allowing her love to be fulfilled. Jeník arrives and asks Bětuška why she is sad. It is because her father wishes her to marry a richer man. The two embrace and sing of their hope that God will help their love (Ústa moje, miláčku). Martin, Veruna and Václav arrive as Jeník leaves. Martin tells Bětuška off for spending time with a tramp like Jeník when he has in mind a wealthier husband for her. Bětuška reaffirms her love for Jeník and Veruna supports her, but her father will have none of that. Václav tells her of all the gifts he can give her if she agrees to marry him instead. Bětuška refuses. Martin expresses his anger with her (Dobrá, jdi tedy k němu). The girls return to take Bětuška along with them to collect a bouquet for her to present to the Prince. Thinking they're alone, Václav and Martin discuss what to do. The former expresses frustration feeling that the whole village is mocking him. Martin reassures him that they are both clever Bohemian peasants, (Jsme čestí sedláci, they sing together). They will replace the ladder Jeník usually uses with a plank over a barrel of water. They will beat him after he falls in. However Veruna has been listening and she intends to warn the lovers of the trap.
The whole village turn out to greet the Prince and Princess. When Bětuška gives the Prince the bouquet, both he and Jean are struck by her beauty. Jean tries to pinch her and the jealous Berta complains. Martin and Václav approach the Prince to ask for his agreement to Václav marrying Bětuška. He replies that he will speak to Bětuška first and find out her wishes. When he does so, he says he will grant Jeník a farm and let Bětuška marry her instead, provided she visits the Prince alone at the summerhouse during the evening. Veruna has been listening again and comments to Bětuška about the Prince's lecherous intentions. Meanwhile, they see Jean approaching, strutting like a peacock. He asks Bětuška to leave a ladder outside her window for him. Veruna informs him that there will be a barrel he can climb onto instead. Berta arrives and tells Jean off. Veruna explains to the other two women about how the barrel is a trap. She also visits the Princess who will visit her husband in the summerhouse in the evening instead of Bětuška and give him a slap
, Prague Radio Symphnoy Orchestra and Chorus, Fanatišek Vajnar. Recorded 1985-86. Supraphon
SU 0019-2 632.
Stephen Gunzenhauser and the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra
have recorded the overture for Naxos
.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
by Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Dvorák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
. The Czech-language
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
is by Josef Otakar Veselý.
Composition and reception
The Cunning Peasant was written at a time when there was a lack of high-quality Czech dramatic writers. In his 1995 notes to the SupraphonSupraphon
Supraphon Music Publishing is a Czech record label, it is oriented mainly towards publishing classical music, with an emphasis on Czech and Slovak composers.- History :...
recording, Milan Pospíšil indicates that Veselý did not solve that problem. His libretto demonstrates talent but also uncritical self-confidence and recycles traditional plot elements and even the names of characters. Both Jeník and Václav, for example, are based on models with similar names in The Bartered Bride
The Bartered Bride
The Bartered Bride is a comic opera in three acts by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, to a libretto by Karel Sabina. The opera is considered to have made a major contribution towards the development of Czech music. It was composed during the period 1863–66, and first performed at the...
. The influence of the latter opera is further evidenced by the choice of a rustic setting. Similarities with the plot of The Marriage of Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
have also been noted.
Dvořák set the libretto without requiring any revisions but he did propose the change of name form the original Políček knížeti (A slap for the Prince). The Cunning is ironic as the protagonist is himself cheated. The composer wrote the music in 1877. His other works of the period include the Stabat Mater
Stabat Mater (Dvorák)
Stabat Mater for soli, choir and orchestra is a religious cantata by the Czech composer Antonín Dvořák. The work was sketched in 1876 and completed in 1877.- Background :...
, Piano Concerto
Piano Concerto (Dvorák)
The Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G minor, Op.33 was the first of three concertos that Antonín Dvořák completed—it was followed by a violin concerto and then a cello concerto—and the piano concerto is probably the least known and least performed....
and Slavonic Dances
Slavonic Dances
The Slavonic Dances are a series of 16 orchestral pieces composed by Antonín Dvořák in 1878 and 1886 and published in two sets as Opus 46 and Opus 72 respectively. Originally written for piano four hands, the Slavonic Dances were inspired by Johannes Brahms's own Hungarian Dances and were...
.
To provide a national character, Dvořák used a variety of dance and other forms in the opera, such as polka
Polka
The polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia...
, waltz
Waltz
The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
, sousedská, mazur
Mazur
Mazur can refer to:* Masurians or Mazurs, a Slavic ethnic group with historic origins in the Polish region of Masovia* Mazur , including a list of people so named* Mazur , a traditional Polish folk dance...
and march
March (music)
A march, as a musical genre, is a piece of music with a strong regular rhythm which in origin was expressly written for marching to and most frequently performed by a military band. In mood, marches range from the moving death march in Wagner's Götterdämmerung to the brisk military marches of John...
, though the music remains typical of the composer. With short numbers, The Cunning Peasant is really an ensemble opera. The music is lyrical with the worlds of the Prince and the folk characters, of the lovers and plotters individually characterised with music that recurs. However, some of these portrayals also anticipate those of similar characters in later operas such as The Jacobin
The Jacobin
The Jacobin is an opera in three acts by Antonín Dvořák to an original Czech libretto by Marie Červinková-Riegrová. Červinková-Riegrová took some of the story's characters from the story by Alois Jirásek, "At the Ducal Court", but devised her own plot around them. The first performance was at the...
. Contemporary critics saw the musical style as too symphonic. Eduard Hanslick
Eduard Hanslick
Eduard Hanslick was a Bohemian-Austrian music critic.-Biography:Hanslick was born in Prague, the son of Joseph Adolph Hanslick, a bibliographer and music teacher from a German-speaking family, and one of his piano pupils, the daughter of a Jewish merchant from Vienna...
, for example, considered the Act 2 ballet music as better suited for a symphonic scherzo.
Performance history
The opera received its first performance in PraguePrague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
in 1878 and was also given in Plzeň that same year. When it was performed in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
in 1882, it became only the third Czech opera to be given in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It thus represents Dvořák's first real success as an opera composer. It was performed in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
in 1883, but a poor reception in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
in 1885 halted the wider progress of this and other of the composer's operas for some time. In the Czech lands, The Cunning Peasant remained popular, though attention was drawn away from it by the première of The Jacobin in 1887. Nevertheless, performances of the opera continued into the 20th century but they have tailed off since 1950.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 1878 (Conductor: - ) |
|---|---|---|
| Prince | baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or... |
Josef Lev |
| Princess | soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... |
Teresa Boschetti |
| Jean, the prince's valet | tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... |
Adolf Krössing Adolf Krössing Adolf Krössing was a Czech operatic tenor, stage director, and actor of both the stage and film. Possessing a smaller voice, Krössing impressed audiences not with his vocal prowess but with his dramatic gifts. A master of improvisation and comic timing, he excelled in character roles... |
| Berta, the Princess's chambermaid | soprano | Antonie Tichá |
| Jeník, a poor country lad | tenor | Antonín Vávra |
| Martin, a wealthy farmer | bass | Karel Cech |
| Bětuška, his daughter | soprano | Marie Lausmannová |
| Václav, a rich farmer's son | tenor | Jan Sára |
| Veruna, the village forewoman | contralto Contralto Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above... |
Betty Fibichová Betty Fibichová Betty Fibichová was a Czechoslovak opera singer and the wife of composer Zdeněk Fibich. The greatest Czech operatic contralto of her day, she enjoyed close artistic partnerships with both Antonín Dvořák and Bedřich Smetana in addition to collaborating frequently with her husband.-Biography:Born... |
Act 1
The grounds of a palaceThe girls of the village are celebrating May and the love it brings (Zavítal do kraje, zavítal máj), but Bětuška is sad. The chorus try to cheer her up with the hope of the Prince's arrival allowing her love to be fulfilled. Jeník arrives and asks Bětuška why she is sad. It is because her father wishes her to marry a richer man. The two embrace and sing of their hope that God will help their love (Ústa moje, miláčku). Martin, Veruna and Václav arrive as Jeník leaves. Martin tells Bětuška off for spending time with a tramp like Jeník when he has in mind a wealthier husband for her. Bětuška reaffirms her love for Jeník and Veruna supports her, but her father will have none of that. Václav tells her of all the gifts he can give her if she agrees to marry him instead. Bětuška refuses. Martin expresses his anger with her (Dobrá, jdi tedy k němu). The girls return to take Bětuška along with them to collect a bouquet for her to present to the Prince. Thinking they're alone, Václav and Martin discuss what to do. The former expresses frustration feeling that the whole village is mocking him. Martin reassures him that they are both clever Bohemian peasants, (Jsme čestí sedláci, they sing together). They will replace the ladder Jeník usually uses with a plank over a barrel of water. They will beat him after he falls in. However Veruna has been listening and she intends to warn the lovers of the trap.
The whole village turn out to greet the Prince and Princess. When Bětuška gives the Prince the bouquet, both he and Jean are struck by her beauty. Jean tries to pinch her and the jealous Berta complains. Martin and Václav approach the Prince to ask for his agreement to Václav marrying Bětuška. He replies that he will speak to Bětuška first and find out her wishes. When he does so, he says he will grant Jeník a farm and let Bětuška marry her instead, provided she visits the Prince alone at the summerhouse during the evening. Veruna has been listening again and comments to Bětuška about the Prince's lecherous intentions. Meanwhile, they see Jean approaching, strutting like a peacock. He asks Bětuška to leave a ladder outside her window for him. Veruna informs him that there will be a barrel he can climb onto instead. Berta arrives and tells Jean off. Veruna explains to the other two women about how the barrel is a trap. She also visits the Princess who will visit her husband in the summerhouse in the evening instead of Bětuška and give him a slap
Act 2
Spring festivities are taking place complete with dancing, beer and a Maypole which a villager climbs to win a prize. A the Prince draws the celebrations to a close, various characters sing of their hopes to end up in Bětuška's arms, to humiliate other characters or, in Bětuška's own case, to end up in Jeník's arms (Kéž mi již zavitá blažená chvíle). Jeník and Bětuška wish each other goodnight (Rozlučme se, drahý (drahá), rozlučme se). She tells him of the Prince's intentions and they think of eloping. Martin sees the barrel into position while Václav feels guilt at what they are planning. Veruna directs the Princess and Berta, both disguised as Bětuška to their respective positions. Thinking he is seducing Bětuška, the Prince complains about how he is bored by his wife. The Princess takes the bond for te promised farm from him before slapping him. Meanwhile Jean tries to climb to Bětuška's window, where Berta is, and falls into the barrel. Martin and Václav rush out to beat him up, egged on by Berta. She and the Princess demand and receive repentance from the Prince and Jean. Everyone blames Martin for having such a beautiful daughter. The Prince instructs him to marry her to Jeník. Martin apologises to Václav who is sure that his wealth will help him find a wife elsewhere. The Prince gives Jeník the deeds to the farm and Martin promises a generous dowry. Everyone praises the Prince and Princess.Recordings
Jitka Soběhartová, Josef Kundlák, Václav ZítekVáclav Zítek
Václav Zítek is a Czech opera singer. A lyric baritone with a beautiful timbre and a wide vocal range, he was one of the leading Czech singers of the postwar generation. He particularly excelled in portraying Janáček and Smetana heroes...
, Prague Radio Symphnoy Orchestra and Chorus, Fanatišek Vajnar. Recorded 1985-86. Supraphon
Supraphon
Supraphon Music Publishing is a Czech record label, it is oriented mainly towards publishing classical music, with an emphasis on Czech and Slovak composers.- History :...
SU 0019-2 632.
Stephen Gunzenhauser and the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra
The Slovenská filharmónia is a symphony orchestra in Bratislava, Slovakia.Founded in 1949, the orchestra has resided since the 1950s in the Baroque era Reduta Bratislava concert hall constructed in 1773...
have recorded the overture for Naxos
Naxos Records
Naxos Records is a record label specializing in classical music. Through a number of imprints, Naxos also releases genres including Chinese music, jazz, world music, and early rock & roll. The company was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann, a German-born resident of Hong Kong.Naxos is the largest...
.