»To Make a Real Theatre«

With a total of 35 completed ballets and operas, Bohuslav Martinu(1890-1959) was one of the most productive theatre composers of the20th century. Throughout his life, he was interested in the latest theatricaltrends and sought musical solutions to the problems they raised.Consequently, his stage works are astonishingly varied; conversationalpieces appear alongside music dramas, works based on Dadaist orSurrealist texts alternate with poetic settings, and opportunities to embracemedia, such as film or radio, are seized. Whether in Prague, inParis, or in his decades of exile commuting restlessly between the USA,France, Switzerland and Italy, Martinu's interest was not in theoreticaldiscourse but in »making real theatre«. The book contains the criticallyedited libretti and scenarios of the theatre works he wrote between1913 and 1937. The libretti appear in the original language and in Englishtranslation on facing pages. The genesis of each work is described,and key texts in its development are added.The following works are included: Noc, Stín, Istar, Kdo je na svetenejmocnejsí, La Révolte, The Butterfly that Stamped, Ruce, Le Raidmerveilleux, Kuchynská revue, Voják a tanecnice, On Tourne!, Larmesde couteau, Les Trois Souhaits ou Les Vicissitudes de la vie, Échec au roi,Le Jour de bonté, Spalícek, Mariken de Nimègue, Hry o Marii, Hlas lesa,Veselohra na moste, Divadlo za bránou, Juliette, Alexandre bis.