Bohuslav Martinů · aftercurtain

Alexandre bis

Music · Opera · 1964

In a Paris salon around 1900, Alexandre leaves home, allegedly for the station, while his American cousin arrives. His wife Armande falls for the cousin, to the dismay of Alexandre’s animated portrait and the maid Philomène. Armande dreams that the two Alexandres kill each other, that the goddess of marriage condemns her, and that Oscar courts her on roller skates. The next morning her husband returns without his beard and leaves for work. Oscar again invites Armande to a cycling lesson, and this time she accepts.

Anastasia

Composer · Ballet · 1967

In the 1967 one-act ballet, Anna Anderson, who claimed to be Grand Duchess Anastasia, is confined in a Berlin mental institution and struggles to recover her memory. The 1971 expansion adds two acts depicting her life—or remembered image of it—before the Russian Revolution.

Ariane

Music and Libretto · Opera · 1961

At Knossos, Theseus meets Ariane while seeking the Minotaur; attraction and mistaken identity blur the lines between the hero and monster. The Minotaur proves to be Theseus’s double, and killing it costs Theseus his love for Ariane, whom he and his companions abandon.

Comedy on the Bridge

Music and Libretto · Opera · 1937

A river bridge separates two armies during a conflict. Josephine is held on the bridge because she lacks the papers needed to cross to her own side. The brewer Bedron is also detained there, and his flirtation with Josephine brings her fiancé Johnny and Bedron’s wife Eva into an argument. A schoolmaster ponders a riddle about a deer trapped in a walled field. When fighting is heard, the couples settle their differences. Their side wins the battle, and an officer reveals that Josephine’s brother is alive; she had buried another soldier. The officer gives the riddle’s answer: the deer does not escape.

Divadlo za branou

Music and Libretto · Opera · 1936

In the opening ballet-pantomime, Pierrot exposes Harlequin’s flirtation with Colombina, but the innkeeper eventually blesses their relationship. In the next acts, the mayor plots to abduct Colombina with help from the night-watchman, while Pierrot remains jealous and flirts with her. Pierrot and the others overhear the plot and stage a false doctor scene to thwart the men. The mayor and night-watchman are frightened by the four lovers disguised as ghosts. The innkeeper finally accepts marriages between Harlequin and Colombina, and Pierrot and Katuška.

Hlas lesa

Music · Opera · 1935

A bride forced into an unwanted marriage is captured in a forest by bandits. She finds the man she loves among their captives and frees him; when he does not recognize her, she unties the cloth over his eyes, and the pair reunite.

Hry o Marii

Music and Libretto · Opera · 1935

A four-part cycle of religious tales: wise and foolish virgins await a bridegroom; Mary of Nijmegen marries the devil but is redeemed by the Virgin Mary; the Nativity story includes a miracle that restores a blacksmith’s daughter’s hands; and Sister Pasqualina leaves her convent, is accused of murder, and is saved from execution by Mary before returning to the convent and dying.

Julietta

Music and Libretto · Opera · 1938

Michel, a Parisian bookseller, searches for Julietta, whose voice has haunted him, in a town where people retain memories for only minutes. Their encounters unfold through shifting dreamlike episodes; after trying to leave, Michel hears her call and chooses to remain in the dream world with her.

La revue de cuisine

Composer · Ballet · 1927

Kitchen utensils enact a comic love triangle: Pot is tempted away from Lid by Twirling Stick, while Dishcloth attracts Lid and faces a duel with Broom. Pot tires of Twirling Stick and longs for Lid, who has disappeared. An enormous foot kicks Lid back onstage; Pot and Lid reconcile, and Twirling Stick leaves with Dishcloth.

Larmes de couteau

Music · Opera · 1969

Eleonore falls in love with a hanged neighbor, Saturn, while her mother expects the handsome Satan to visit. Satan declares love for both women and marries Eleonore to Saturn. When Saturn does not return Eleonore’s affection, Satan appears as a cyclist; Eleonore and her mother are attracted to him until his head cracks and reveals the devil. Eleonore stabs herself, but Saturn comes to life and she revives. She embraces him, then his head bursts open to reveal Satan, who flees after kissing both women.

Le jour de bonté

Music · Opera · 1931

Two French peasants visit Paris to do good works for the needy, but they are frustrated and rejected by the people they try to help.

Les trois souhaits, ou Les vicissitudes de la vie

Music · Opera · 1971

The opera interweaves a film crew making a story about three wishes with the film itself. In the film, a fairy grants Juste and his wife Indolenda wishes for wealth, youth and love. Their new riches sink a boat, and after Indolenda becomes young she chooses her cousin Adolf over Juste. The fairy’s final wish makes the formerly wealthy Eblouie Barbichette fall in love with Juste, but her jealousy turns violent and he dies. The film succeeds, while the actors playing Indolenda and Adolf begin an affair in real life; the epilogue leaves Artur alone, proud of the film but fearing others mock him.

Mirandolina

Music and Libretto · Opera · 1959

Innkeeper Mirandolina attracts several noble suitors, including the sardonic misogynist Ripafratta, whom she sets out to seduce. When he becomes seriously attached and reacts angrily to her rejection, Mirandolina turns instead to her faithful waiter Fabrizio, whom she marries after testing his loyalty.

The Greek Passion

Music and Libretto · Opera · 1961

In a Greek village, residents prepare a Passion play and are urged to live according to the roles they receive. When refugees arrive, Manolios and several villagers help them, while the village priest and elders see their influence threatened; Manolios is excommunicated and killed as the refugees seek shelter.

The Marriage

Music and Libretto · Opera · 1953

The matchmaker Fyokla recommends the shy bachelor Podkolyosin to Agafya, a merchant's daughter, and his friend Kokhkyarov helps persuade both of them to marry. Agafya accepts, but while she prepares for the wedding Podkolyosin escapes through the window.

Valley of Shadows

Composer · Ballet · 1983

A one-act Royal Ballet work by Kenneth MacMillan, set to excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s Hamlet and Souvenir de Florence and Martinů’s Double Concerto. Its story is loosely based on Giorgio Bassani’s novel The Garden of the Finzi-Continis.

What Men Live By

Music and Libretto · Opera · 1953

Martinů’s one-act pastoral opera adapts Tolstoy’s story Where Love Is, There God Is Also. The work is written for soloists, a narrator, and a small chorus or vocal ensemble.

Shows & credits

Alexandre bis

Anastasia

Ariane

Comedy on the Bridge

Divadlo za branou

Hlas lesa

Shows & credits

Alexandre bis

Anastasia

Ariane

Comedy on the Bridge

Divadlo za branou

Hlas lesa

Hry o Marii

Julietta

La revue de cuisine

Larmes de couteau

Le jour de bonté

Les trois souhaits, ou Les vicissitudes de la vie

Mirandolina

The Greek Passion

The Marriage

Valley of Shadows

What Men Live By

Alexandre bis

Anastasia

Ariane

Comedy on the Bridge

Divadlo za branou

Hlas lesa

Alexandre bis

Anastasia

Ariane

Comedy on the Bridge

Divadlo za branou

Hlas lesa

Hry o Marii

Julietta

La revue de cuisine

Larmes de couteau

Le jour de bonté

Les trois souhaits, ou Les vicissitudes de la vie

Mirandolina

The Greek Passion

The Marriage

Valley of Shadows

What Men Live By