Markéta Lazarová

Musical ballad / World premiere

Vladislav Vančura’s prosaic work is noted for its magic ability of treating our mother tongue and for its extraordinary deep humanism in the intellectual sphere. The novel used as a model for the new music dramatization was written in the year 1931 and is distinguished with an extraordinary reality, richness and sincerity – its figures, although sinful, have a deep consciousness of moral code. The impressive suggestive story of young Markéta and wild Mikoláš, taking place in a rough milieu of medieval cruelty, religious and interpersonal disputes, became a model for František Vláčil’s brilliant film taken in the year 1967 with Magda Vašáryová in the title role. The principal theme of the work consisting in the message that “love is a medicine to violence and a key to the secret of the world” is close to Petr Ulrych and Stanislav Moša. The same theme was used in their preceding dramatic performances written directly for the Brno City Theatre - Radúz and Mahulena, May and Koloczava. The natural human desire for a happy life despite of a hard destiny, the beauty of the Czech language and the unusual but outstanding value of Petr Ulrych’s music promise an extraordinary dramatic experience.