Gala concert from operettas and ballets
Oskar Nedbal (1874-1930), born in the Czech town Tábor, was a king of viola, conductor and above all a talented composer. The student of Antonín Dvořák and a class fellow of Josef Suk studied the Prague conservatoire and then became a founder and leader of the Czech Quartet that toured the whole world. In the year 1902 he achieved his first success as a composer – his ballet pantomime A Fairy Tale about Jack had its premiere in the Prague National Theatre. A year later, the composer Gustav Mahler presented the work in the Vienna Court Opera. Vienna became Nedbal’s place of work for a long time and that is why he is often ranked among the representatives of the Silver Age of Viennese Operetta along with Franz Lehár and Emmerich Kalmán.
Nedbal’s composing activity may be divided into three periods. The first period was dominated with intimate and chamber works. The second period was devoted to ballet and the third period was ruled by operetta. Besides A Fairy Tale about Jack, the best-known Nedbal’s ballets such as From Tale to Tale, Princess Hyacinth and Andersen, coming back again and again to the world stages as well as his operettas, should be mentioned too. His operettas are undoubtedly dominated with the Polish Blood. Its melodies such as “Sweet Blondes”, “I Am One of the Diplomats”, “You are a Cavalier, I Know” became hits. Nedbal’s Vintage is as well-known as Polish Blood. However, hardly anybody knows that his first operetta was Chaste Barbora and he is also an author of Beautiful Saskia, Erivan or Donna Gloria. All these well-known as well as unknown ballets and operettas will be brought back with the gala concert Honours to Oskar Nedbal aimed at paying homage to the talented composer who finished his life voluntarily jumping out of a window of the Záhřeb Theatre on the Christmas Eve 1930. Top Czech interpreters promised to participate in the concert accompanied with additional shots by Dalibor Černák.
