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National Theatre (Národní divadlo)Ostrovní 1, Praha 1, Prague, Central Bohemian Region, 11000, Czech Republic
Dates/times in Prague time zone
Thursday 23 April 202618:00
Saturday 25 April 202618:00
Tuesday 28 April 202618:00
Tuesday 05 May 202618:00
Sunday 10 May 202614:00
Sunday 17 May 202614:00
Tuesday 09 June 202618:00
Tuesday 23 June 202617:00
Sunday 28 June 202614:00

Today Václav Trojan (1907–1983) is known primarily as a composer of outstanding scores for a number of 20th-century Czech films. The most noteworthy are the soundtracks to Jiří Trnka’s world-renowned animated movies Bayaya, Old Czech Legends, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Good Soldier Schweik; Bořivoj Zeman’s fairy tale Once Upon a Time There Was a King ..., featuring Jan Werich in the lead role; and Otakar Vávra’s August Sunday. Moreover, Trojan created the ballets Prince Bayaya and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which were performed to acclaim at the National Theatre in Prague, and the stage poem Golden Gate, to folk motives. 

Trojan wrote one opera, Kolotoč (Carousel), for children young and old, as the secondary title indicates. The owner of a merry-go-round invites children to climb aboard: “If you want to see Indians, a kangaroo and gorillas, take a seat on the carousel!” And indeed: in the scenes that follow children are taken on dreamy trips to an African rainforest, the Australian Outback, an Indian jungle, as well as to the world of American film. Characterised by bounteous instrumentation and exquisite melody, Trojan’s music co-creates a colourful fantasy story. 

The National Theatre production will be conducted by Zbyněk Müller and directed by Magdalena Švecová. A key role in the performance will be played by the Czech Philharmonic Children’s Choir, whose founder, Jan Kühn, was among those who in the mid-1930s urged Trojan to write an opera for children. Following a series of setbacks, Carousel would only receive its world premiere decades later, in 1960 in Ostrava. The National Theatre will stage Trojan’s opera for the very first time.

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