Libuše. Edition of Libretti

The story of the mythical princess Libuša has been one of the cornerstones of " old Czech legends" for more than a thousand years. It has also inspired many artistic interpretations over the centuries. Libuše entered the opera stage at the end of the 17th century – after several performances in Italian during the Baroque period, it resurfaced in the first quarter of the 19th century in German Romantic opera. During the 19th century, Czech creators gave the character of Libuše a petrified form that remains to this day – at least in the Czech environment. The anthology of librettos about Libuša, for the first time, completely collects all published and unpublished opera librettos and other, mostly musical texts from the 17th to the 20th centuries. Includes works written in Italian (F. Parisetti, G. C. Corradi, A. Denzio) and German (E. von Lannoy, J. C. Bernard, J. L. Choulant, J. Bayer, J. Wenzig, L. Hartmann) with parallel Czech translations, as well as texts in Czech (J. K. Chmelensky, F. Patocka, J. J. Kolár, E. Spindler, E. Destinnová, J. Berg). The edition is accompanied by an introductory study in Czech and English.