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The calm and peaceful lives of two young widows - cousins Karolina and Anežka, who live together on a countryside estate - is suddenly stirred up by an unexpected visitor. It becomes obvious that the mysterious poacher, who suddenly appears in the estate’s forest, is not out hunting for a doe but rather pining for one of them. At the beginning of the 1870s, Smetana faced a rising number of challenges to his position of artistic director of Prague’s opera ensemble. From this tense and pressured period for the composer sprang a work of immense creative grace. He seems to delight in evoking a world of people of refined manners, fine culture and the gentle atmosphere of a rural estate. Perhaps it was a relief from life's difficulties and an escape from everyday dullness - a kind of summer fairy tale with a happy end. With The Two Widows, Smetana created a unique style of conversational opera, which Richard Strauss considered one of the best operas of 19th century. As an integral part of the Smetana Opera Cycle Ostrava 2024, the production was staged by Slovenian director and scenographer Rocc, who offers a rare non-Czech point of view on this lesser-known gem of the operatic repertoire. Full performance streamed on OperaVision from 27 July 2024 at 19:00 CET to 27 January 2025 at 12:00 CET: CAST Karolina Lada Bočková Anežka Veronika Rovná Ladislav Podhajský Martin Šrejma Mumlal Martin Gurbaľ Toník Václav Čížek Lidka Karolína Levková Priest Petr Urbánek Orchestra National Moravian‐Silesian Opera Orchestra Chorus National Moravian-Silesian Opera Chorus Music Bedřich Smetana Text Emanuel František Züngel after Jean Pierre Félicien Mallefille Conductor Marek Šedivý Direction & sets Rocc Costumes Belinda Radulović Movement Director Anna Knollová Chorus Master Jurij Galatenko Dramaturg Juraj Bajús OperaVision is a freeview opera streaming platform, supported by the European Union's Creative Europe programme. Watch live streams as the performances themselves unfold in the opera house. Enjoy a variety of shows - including opera, operetta, musical theatre, dance, ballet and concerts. Opera connaisseur or curious newcomer, there is something for everyone on OperaVision. @operavision
