Bedřich Smetana, Dalibor (1867)

Hey, here's this.  The video is region-locked, but I was able to sneakily use my VPN to make it think I was in France.  I think that's actually the first time I've had to do that for an opera video.  There are subtitles in French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, and Polish, so it seems to be intended for a wide audience.

This is my first Smetana tragedy.  Dalibor's on trial for having murder a local lord--but he only did it because his friend was executed, so COME ON!  The guy's sister, Milada, demands his execution, but then she realizes she has the hots for him.  He's sentenced to indefinite imprisonment, so she teams up with Jitka, an orphan Dalibor had taken under his wing, to free him.  Jitka gets her boyfriend Vitek to gather some troops; meanwhile, Milada, disguised as a minstrel boy, infiltrates the dungeon where Dalibor's being held, where she reveals herself and declares her love for him, which he immediately reciprocates, as one does.  She tells him about the plan to rescue him, which is supposed to happen three days later.  Unfortunately, the king decides Dalibor should be executed after all, and that screws up the plan.  The rebels attack precipitously, but Milada is killed and Dalibor commits suicide.  Jitka's okay, apparently.  Vitek's fate is unknown.  Probably dead, though.

Let me be upfront: I didn't think this was a very good opera.  The music is only intermittently rousing, and the libretto is pretty bad.  You never get a good idea of the characters, the romance between Dalibor and Milada is really half-assed and unconvincing, and there's this part where Dalibor, anticipating his freedom, is singing about how, oh boy, now he can finish taking his revenge!  He appears to want to sack the entire city of Prague, and you think, dude, what the fuck?  This is psychotic!  They were right to lock you up!  Somehow, Budivoj, the commander of the king's forces, comes across as the most sympathetic character here, and I don't think that was intentional.  There's also a non-sequitur of an aria from the king lamenting the duties of office, right before he sentences Dalibor to death, and you think, was this a drama I was supposed to be paying attention to?  What is this?  There's a certain resemblance, I can't tell if it's intentional, between him and Pontus Pilate, but that seems like a weird parallel to draw, and I don't know what the heck is going on.  One weird detail in this production: in the first act, Milada and the other ladies of the court are wearing dresses with silk-screened images of (I assume it's supposed to be) the murdered guy on them.  Weird.  As I say.

I dunno...the more Smetana I see, the more it seems like there might be good reason that The Bartered Bride is his only opera that remains popular to this day.  But!  I shall see as many as I can to make absolutely sure.