WEIS, Karel 1862-1944

Lešetínský kovář [Piano-vocal score]. Signed by the composer

Lidová opera o třech dějstvích, podle Svatopluka Čecha. Pro jeviště upravil podle rozvrhu skladatelova Ladislav Novak. Složil Karel Weis. Úplný klavírní výtah se zpěvy

v Praze: Nákladem vlastním [At my own expense], ©1920.

Small folio. Original pictorial wrappers. 159 pp. Text in Czech.

With composer's signed autograph inscription to Karel Grünberger dated November 8, 1920 to second leaf.

Wrappers slightly worn; head and tail of spine torn. Somewhat browned.

First Edition. Scarce (2 copies located in the U.S., one in the U.K.)

Lešetínský kovář (The Lešetín Blacksmith), a folk opera in 3 acts to a libretto by Weis and Ladislav Novak after Svatopluk Čech, premiered at the National Theatre in Prague on 6 June 1920.

Czech composer Karel Weis devoted most of his attention to studying and collecting folk songs, primarily in south Bohemia. His opera Lešetínský kovář is based on the well-known poem of the same name by Svatopluk Čech (1846-1908). This highly nationalist and anti-German poem about a proud blacksmith in a small town was the subject of three operas. Weis had encountered criticism with his earlier operas in German, but found success with the Czech national spirit following World War I.

Karel Grünberger (1885-1940) was an early film producer and director from Brno; he perished in the Oranienburg concentration camp.

Item #34247

Price: $120.00  other currencies