1. The Life and Times of Smetana´s The Two Widows: Background: History of the Czechs
Czech „Cullodden“:
Battle at the White Mountain (1620):
Protestants beaten by Catholics,
„national catastrophe for 300 years“-
„Age of Darkness“

2. The Life and Times of Smetana´s The Two Widows: Background: History of the Czechs
14th century:
Independent Kingdom of Bohemia;
Charles IV (ruled );
Centre of the Holy Roman Empire

3. The Life and Times of Smetana´s The Two Widows: Background: History of the Czechs
15th century: Jan Hus
(burned at the stake 1415): Protestant Revolution:
The Czech „Hussites“
Defeated crusades from
Catholic Europe

4. The Life and Times of Smetana´s The Two Widows: Background: History of the Czechs -
1621: 27 Czech protestant
noblemen executed
: Thirty Years´ War
Subjugation under
Austrian Habsburgs
Until 1780s-1790s

5. The Life and Times of Smetana´s The Two Widows: Background: History of the Czechs
Austrian Enlightement ruler
Joseph II ( )
gave impetus to
the Czech National Revival
which then developed under
the impulse of Romanticism

6. The Life and Times of Smetana´s The Two Widows: Background: History of the Czechs
• But, police oppression before 1848
(Metternich´s Absolutism)
• (short lived „democratic revolution in 1848)
as well as in
(Bach´s Absolutism)
• Only cultural, literary effort was possible

7. The Life and Times of Smetana´s The Two Widows: Background: History of the Czechs
• After Austria defeated by French-Sardinian forces at Magenta and Solferino (1859), Bach´s absolutism fell
•Constitution published in February 1861
• First elections in March 1861, high voting preferences to aristocracy, monied classes
• General franchise not introduced in Austria-Hungary until 1907

8. The Life and Times of Smetana´s The Two Widows: Background: History of the Czechs
December 1867: a more democratic constitution:
• citizen´s equality before law
• sanctity of property
• freedom of movement
• freedom of assembly
• freedom of speech
• independent judiciary

9. The Life and Times of Smetana´s The Two Widows: Background: History of the Czechs
From 1861, political activity was possible:
As of January 1861, Národní listy newspaper,
edited by František Ladislav Rieger.
Programme:
• National equality
• Civic rights
• Extensive self-government

10. The Life and Times of Smetana´s The Two Widows: Background: History of the Czechs
Two main political parties:
1. conservative:
The Old Czech Party
leaders: František Palacký F. J. Rieger

11. The Life and Times of Smetana´s The Two Widows: Background: History of the Czechs
2. Radical democrats:
The Young Czech Party:
Smetana sympathised
with them and was hated
by the Old Czechs
leader: Karel Sladkovský

12. The Life and Times of Smetana´s The Two Widows: Background: History of the Czechs
1866: Austria defeated by Prussia:
• Austria´s centralising structure was broken up
• Austria – Hungary was created
• The Czechs were passed over:
• A wave of frustrated Czech nationalism
• Laying the foundation stone
to the National Theatre in Prague

13. The Life and Times of Smetana´s The Two Widows: Background: History of the Czechs
Life in Smetana´s times in Austria-Hungary:
• cultural, economic dominance of the Germans,
but not embedded in law
• 1866 – 1914: period of stability
• economic, technological, cultural boom
• continuing nationalistic squabbling
• culturally, the Czechs and the Germans ignored
each other

14. The Life and Times of Smetana´s The Two Widows: The life of Bedřich Smetana (1824 – 1884)
• Bedřich´s father František ( ) – a true self-made-man.
• Maltster, brewery manager
• Pleasant, sunny, middle class family environment

15. The Life and Times of Smetana´s The Two Widows: The life of Bedřich Smetana (1824 – 1884)
• Young Bedřich highly intelligent, great difficulty attending school in authoritarian Austria of the 1830s and 1840s.
• Eventually gave up, devoting himself to music
• At 19, destitute in Prague, then teacher in the family of Count Thun
• Asks Franz Liszt for help

16. The Life and Times of Smetana´s The Two Widows: The life of Bedřich Smetana (1824 – 1884)
• From his teens Smetana was obsessed with girls
• In 1849 he married his first wife Kateřina (22),
he was 26.
She died of tuberculosis in 1859.

17. The Life and Times of Smetana´s The Two Widows: The life of Bedřich Smetana (1824 – 1884)
In 1860, Smetana married
his second wife Bettina (19)
when he was 36.
This is
their wedding photograph

18. The Life and Times of Smetana´s The Two Widows: The life of Bedřich Smetana (1824 – 1884)
• 1855: Smetana composed the „unplayable“
Triumphal Symphony
• 1856 onwards: Directorship of Philharmonic Society in Göteborg, Sweden; stayed until 1861
• 1857 – conflict with Herbeck in Weimar:
Smetana swore to devote himself to Czech music

19. The Life and Times of Smetana´s The Two Widows: The life of Bedřich Smetana (1824 – 1884)
• On returning to Prague, no one interested in him or his music
• Clash with Rieger and Old Czechs, Smetana passed over
• Problems with the non-existence of Czech National Theatre
• Smetana: erudite and critical reviewer of Czech musical life

20. The Life and Times of Smetana´s The Two Widows: The life of Bedřich Smetana (1824 – 1884)
• : wrote first opera, Brandenburgers in Bohemia, nationalist, implicitly socialist. Against the wishes of Old Czech conductor Maýr opera premiered in 1866
• 1866 – finally appointed conductor at the Provisional Theatre
• wrote the Bartered Bride, premiered 1866, matured until 1870 (final version)

21. The Two Widows
• Dvě vdovy (The Two Widows) Smetana´s 5th opera, completed in 1872
• Based on Le deux veuves by Jean Pierre Felicien Mallefill ( )
• transferred into the Czech environment
• (clumsy) librettist Emanuel Zuengel
• opera written in 4 months (July-Nov. 1873)S

22. The Two Widows • Originally, four characters:
• cousins Anežka, Karolína
• Karolína is cheerful, loves life. Assertive, emancipated young woman
• Anežka wants to remain faithful to her dead husband, ignoring advances of young count. She feels guilty she fancied him while her husband was still alive

23. The Two Widows Smetana :
Love and life must prevail over convention and memory of dead husband
Karolína – a totally new character in Czech music, literature, culture. Assertive, emancipated woman
Is Czech upper middle-class society really as sophisticated as this?

24. The Two Widows The other two characters:
• Ladislav Podhájský, the young count
• Mumlal, old gamekeeper

25. The Two Widows
A young peasant couple of Toník and Lidka added as a counterbalance to the upper middle-class life

26. The Two Widows
Premiered in Prague on 27th March 1874: only the four main characters and the choir
• Premiere was very successful, but there were only six performances
• 1881, The Two Widows staged in Hamburg, but only five performances
• From 1892 the opera was performed in a truncated version, from 1923 restored to its original version.

27. Smetana´s later life
• 1866 – laying of the foundation of the National Theatre
• 1881 completed, opened with Smetana´s Libuše. In the same year, it burned down

28. Smetana´s later life
Smetana directed Prague opera for eight years ( )
He also cultivated symphonic music
In 1874, at the age of 50, Smetana went deaf, had to give up the post of Head of Prague opera
1876 – retired to a gamekeeper´s lodge near Jabkenice
Still composed several operas, including The Kiss (1876) and the cycle of symphonic poems Má vlast

29. Smetana´s later life
On May 5th 1882, Smetana experienced a fantastic celebration, on the occasion of 100th performance of The Bartered Bride
Dec. 1882: lost his speech
April 1884: confined to
an asylum
Died on 12th May 1884