DALIBOR

After nearly three decades of absence from its native stages in Brno, Dalibor has returned thanks to the latest production created by the Leoš Janáček Opera – National Theatre in collaboration with the Welsh National Opera. Hearing and seeing the third opera by Bedřich Smetana in Poland is an opportunity available only during the XXXI Bydgoszcz Opera Festival!

Today, a verdict will be announced, and the guilty will be condemned by the law… People in the courtroom, where Dalibor’s trial is taking place, are furious. Is he guilty of murder, or was he simply defending his rights? The victim’s sister, Milada, relentlessly demands a harsh penalty for her brother’s death, yet a face-to-face encounter with Dalibor challenges her conviction. How will the king decide at a moment when everyone present seems to be playing their own political game?

Smetana’s Dalibor is more than just a romantic tragedy with beautiful music, based on a medieval story about the knight Dalibor of Kozojed, who learned to play the violin in prison. This drama of vengeance, passionate love, and political intrigue is an extraordinary work... one that is not easily deciphered – as promised by the Leoš Janáček Opera – National Theatre in Brno.

The direction of the latest production of Dalibor has been entrusted to the great admirer and promoter of Czech opera, David Pountney. The audience in Brno has already seen that the British director is capable of revealing the deepest layers of human drama, as demonstrated in his 2004 production of Janáček’s Jenůfa. Meanwhile, our festival audience witnessed with admiration the imagination and courage with which Pountney brought Janáček’s The Excursion of Mr. Brouček to the stage during the XXX BOF.