New Paths in Opera

Although Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959), Emil Frantisek Burian (1904-1959), Alois Hába (1893-1973), Erwin Schulhoff (1894-1942), and Viktor Ullmann (1898-1944) were all composers with distinct artistic profiles, a number of various shared aspects can be found in their lives and works. Apart from a generational affinity, they also lived within the territory of Czechoslovakia and the wider Central European cultural context; and despite finding their own individual paths, they contributed together to the project of artistic modernity. This book looks at the opera production of the above-named composers, who all provided innovative solutions to the development of the genre.The book consists of two parts. The first, "Essays", provides historical-analytical perspectives on the operas of the aforementioned composers; the second, "Interviews & Reflections", is dedicated to the applied interpretation and performance of these works. In this part, a number of Czech and foreign artists share their own concrete experiences with the operas and outline the challenges they faced while doing so.