- Buchner, Alexander. Opera v Praze = Opera in Prague.Prague: Panton, 1985.
236p. No ISBN. ML1724.8 .P72 B8.
A popular history in Czech, Russian, and English. Fine pictures; list of about
200 Czech operas with premiere data. Title and name index.
Even in Eastern languages there seems to be just one history of early opera: Igor’
Fedorovich Belza, Cheshskaiia opernaia klassika(Moscow: Iskusstvo, 1951). Several
detailed accounts of the national theater are available in Czech:
- Nemecek, Jan. Opera Národního Divadla v období Karla Kovarovice, 1900–
1920.Prague: Divadelní Ústav, 1968. 2v. ML1724.8. P9 N43.
Kovarovic was director of the national theater from 1900 to 1920. His biogra-
phy is given here, with a survey of Bohemian opera of his time. The repertoire
of the theater is presented in tabular form and through seasonal chronologies.
Well documented with 745 footnotes but without bibliography. Indexed. - Pala, Frantisek. Opera Národního Divadla v období otokara ostrcila.Prague:
Ústav, 1962–1970. 4v. ML1724.8 .P9 N18.
A narrative of each season in the national theater of Prague from 1918/1919
through 1928/1929, with considerable attention to notable personalities. Well
documented but not indexed.
Some of the earlier times are covered in the next entries:
- Kamper, Otakar. Hudební Praha v XVIII. veku.Prague: Melantrich, 1936.
254p. ML247 .K15.
A narrative of Prague musical life in the 18th century, with a chronology of
operas and oratorios performed. - Volek, Tomislav. Repertoir Nosticovského Divadla v Praze z let 1794, 1796–8.
Prague: Ústav pro Dejiny Hudby pri Universite Karlove 1961. 191p.
ML1724.8 .P9 V9.
Mostly a narrative account of four early years of the opera in Prague, with
tables of works performed and personnel lists. No index.
See also #2349.
- Bartos, Josef. Prozatímní Divadlo a Jeho Opera. Prague: Sbor pro Zrízení
Druhého Národního Divadla 1938. 397p. ML1724.8 .P72 N32.
Not seen. Described by Kaufmanas an account of the provisional Czech the-
ater of 1861–1883, predecessor of the national opera that opened in 1883.
There is no formal chronology, but many dates and casts are given. Indexed. - Bondi, Gustav. Funfundzwanzig Jahre Eigenregie: Geschichte des Brünner
Stadttheaters 1882–1907. Brno: Author, 1907. 256p. PN2616 .B87 B7.
A season-by-season narrative of opera in Brno (Brünn), with a foldout chart
giving staff and singers. Name index, composer and librettist index.
Information on opera in other Czech cities is found in the local histories cited in IOM
1772a ff. A publisher’s catalogue is a useful tool: Catalogue of Selected Music-
414 Opera