After ninety-five years, Jaromír Weinberger's fairytale opera Schwanda the Bagpiper has returned to the stage of the National Theatre. The work, which has been performed by the Metropolitan Opera in New York and Covent Garden in London, is directed by Vladimír Morávek, the author of one of the most successful productions of the National Theatre in history – Mozart's The Magic Flute –, and conducted by Zbyněk Müller. The Schwanda the Bagpiper, with subheading The Devil Lost, He Regrets, based on the J. K. Tyl’s popular play The Strakonice Bagpiper, or The Feast of Wild Women, is a fairy tale from head to toe – depicting a simple story, featuring clear-cut characters, either evil or good, and, naturally, with a happy ending. All that supported by music abounding in lovely melodies, masterful fugues, as well a grandiose conclusion with a quotation of the splendid Czech song In That Yard of Ours. After its premiere in 1927, the fairy tale about love and magic bagpipes was translated into seventeen languages and travelled literally around the world from Prague to Vienna, Berlin, Munich, London's Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera in New York and Buenos Aires. A great tip for a family performance in the dreamy direction of Vladimír Morávek! Opera in Czech with English subtitles. For children aged 10 and up. The project is part of the Musica non grata series financially supported by the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in the Czech Republic.

More about Jaromír Weinberger: Schwanda the Bagpiper Event www