PT Journal
AU Gier, A
TI The Devil in the Opera. On the Motif and the Historical Background of Certova stena [The Devil's Wall]
SO Musicologica Olomucensia
PY 2018
BP 118
EP 130
VL 27
IS 1
DI 10.5507/mo.2018.010
DE Bedrich Smetana; opera; libretto; demonic characters; The Devil's Wall
AB Various types of music theatre (for instance, singspiel, magic opera, or operetta) serve to reveal how new motifs emerged in opera librettos, presenting unusual challenges for composers. These included non-specified choirs of demons and creatures of the underworld in seventeenth century opera to the individualized character of the devil. Although the interest was preserved until the nineteenth century (K. Penderecki, A. Schnittke), the basic repertory foregrounding the demonic powers was created in the eighteenth century (Meyerbeer's Robert le diable [Robert the Devil], Weber's Der Freischutz [The Freeshooter], or Boito's Mefistofele). The character of the devil is not always frightening. Some works intentionally emphasize the comic and fairy-tale features: this being typical in Czech opera (Smetana's Certova stena and Dvorak's opera Cert a Kaca [The Devil and Kate]).
ER