CEREMONY UNVEILING... 13/
the poll is over but i carry on...
in the following 3 shots (viz below), the 24th most popular film of the year 1921 shows the birth spot of Bedřich Smetana
→
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bed%C5%99ich_Smetana
Bedřich Smetana is the most renowned syphilitic ever born not only in Litomyšl but in the whole of Bohemia.
he is fondly remembered by all the Bohemians because when he became completely deaf (due to progressive syphilis) he was still able to compose charming tunes.
he was born in 1824 (yes, within 2 years, the 200th anniversary gonna be celebrated and there is a good hope something remarkable gonna be unveiled and shot on film), in the castle brewery.
first of all, it needs to be emphasized that a "castle" is not just a castle but a whole complex of buildings and pleasure gardens...
The castle is surrounded by a French garden on its west side and by an English park from the north. The buildings of the castle area include castle brewery (with the native flat of Czech composer Bedřich Smetana), riding hall, stables and carriage hall, which, in recent years, have undergone a reconstruction with the use of some modern-art features.
2 shots from the film display entrance into the castle brewery.
the current G map view shows the entrance into the castle brewery (on the left) and the entrance into the castle (on the right)
as mentioned in the quote, the castle brewery was recently (really nicely) reconstructed (again plenty of pics in LAM link below) and if you ever visit Litomyšl you can find accommodation there...
→
https://lam.litomysl.cz/en/object/01-13 ... au-brewery
3rd (related) shot of the film shows the memorial plaque (to remind Bedřich Smetana's birth) on the brewery with the allegorical depiction of "the weird sisters unveiling the fate of the child" made in 1912 by a sculptor Josef Šejnost →
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_%C5%A0ejnost
Bedřich Smetana was born in a castle "brewery" because his dad was a drug dealer (called "brewer").
we all know that (not only 19th-century) nobility was a bunch of good-for-nothings permanently on drugs and thus no wonder part of the castle complex is a building called "brewery".
we can easily imagine that the "brewer" was providing to the nobility not only beer but also opium, laudanum, morphine, cocaine, etc., etc., etc.
being exposed to moral decay from an early age, no wonder Bedřich Smetana later contracted syphilis (as foretold by the weird sisters).
i have heard that with the upcoming 200th anniversary some improvements in the exposition of the native flat are being prepared — including hiring some infant boy (child labor???) to impersonate little Beřich Smetana who is gonna tell tourists about his fate.
i assume that hearing from a little boy a tale (with all the details) of how he will in the future contract a venereal disease gonna be an unforgettable experience for the tourists.
but let's get something straight, i guess nobody doubts i am a Litomyšl patriot, but to be honest, if you want to see a cool birthplace of a creative genius, forget about Litomyšl and go to the nearby town called Polička where Bohuslav Martinů was born on the very top of the tower (of the church of St. James) →
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohuslav_Martin%C5%AF
Bohuslav Martinu is inherently linked with a small room in the tower of St. James church in Policka. It is a tiny unique and romantic place however a bit impractical to live in. The famous composer was born here on 8th December 1890.
A family of five used to live in the tower until Bohuslav was eleven. Father Ferdinand was a shoemaker. He also watched over the tower, he had to make sure that fire did not start anywhere in the tower and he had to set the tower clock and sound the Angelus. Father had an assistant who lived with the family. They called him granddad. He helped them in the household and as the room was too small, he slept in bed under the clock in the tower.
The feel of living 36 metres above the ground made a distinct impact on the composer. He wrote In his memoir from Paris in 1934: "... I suppose that this space comes from my emotions as a child and it has a major role in my attitude toward the composition. I do not feel the small interests of people, their problems, their pain or their joy; I saw these from high above, far away. But it is the space that I constantly see and I think the one that I keep looking for in my works. Space and nature, not people..."
If you mount 192 stairs up to the church tower itself, you will pay an unforgettable visit to this room and you will experience a magnificent view of the town and its surroundings.
anyway, back to Litomyšl.
in 1924, the 100th anniversary was celebrated, and a monument to Bedřich Smetana was unveiled on the main square — (2) on the map (above) & check LAM
→
https://lam.litomysl.cz/en/object/01-vp ... ch-smetana
if anyone finds a film from 1924, featuring the unveiling ceremony (taking place on the 2nd of June 1924), please, post a link during the 1924 poll and i am willing to write an extensive annotation again.
btw. i have heard that some new adjustments to the surrounding of the memorial are planned (and gonna be unveiled in 2024) — it is supposed to be some water elements and little bridges (each devoted to each and every opera by Bedřich Smetana).
but it is (again) something rather for the tourists because anyone and everyone who has a direct tie to Litomyšl can easily spit off all of his operas thanks to the locally well-known mnemotechnics, i.e. "braprodalidvěhutačevi".
if you learn by heart the word "braprodalidvěhutačevi" (or "bra-pro-da-li-dvě-hu-ta-če-vi") then you can easily expand this mnemotechnics into the following list (btw. this mnemotechnics records all the operas in the chronological order)...
bra = Braniboři v Čechách = The Brandenburgers in Bohemia
pro = Prodaná nevěsta = The Bartered Bride
da = Dalibor
li = Libuše
dvě = Dvě vdovy = The Two Widows
hu = Hubička = The Kiss
ta = Tajemství = The Secret
če = Čertova stěna = The Devil's Wall
vi = Viola (unfinished)
because Bedřich Smetana was such a prolific opera maker, in 1949 an annual opera festival was started in Litomyšl.
and moreover, an amphitheater was built in the castle garden, and (during the festival) operas were staged there (open-air).
however, these open-air music performances were vulnerable to the changing weather condition (several operas were interrupted by the arrival of rain).
thus, slowly but surely, the main stage of the festival was shifted from the amphitheater to the castle's inner yard (where open-air performances are sheltered by a portable/provisional roof).
moreover, when the castle was enlisted as a UNESCO heritage site (in 1999) there was a demand to remove this alien element (amphitheater) from the castle complex.
Revitalization of the park below the chateau →
https://lam.litomysl.cz/en/object/01-vp ... he-chateau
(on the left) already abandoned amphitheater
(on the right) current state
both pics from the LAM (viz link above)
as an infant, i attended several operas in the castle amphitheater (and many times witnessed an interruption by rain when all the musicians had to flee in rush to save their valuable musical instruments).
but again, let's be completely honest, the only opera (i attended during "Smetana's Litomyšl Opera Festival") that left a permanent trace on my psyche was not composed by Bedřich Smetana but by Leoš Janáček and was called "The Cunning Little Vixen" (composed in 1921-1923)
→
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cunning_Little_Vixen
i can recall an infant i was mesmerized by all the animals singing their opera parts in the open-air amphitheater of the castle garden.
for example...
https://www.supraphon.com/catalogue/libretto/4
VIXEN
I also have no experience in love-making.
But I have heard a thing or two from the starlings who had a nest above our den.
All the while they used to quarrel and fight.
They reproached each other with horrible immoral and improper things.
The old starling, the shameful sinner, carried on most notoriously in the crown of the oak-tree, his wife used to say.
And once on Saturday, after the weekly pay, the raven and the hawk intervened and gave them a good thrashing.
The youngstern weren’t any better than their elders.
One of them had a sinful affair with the cuckoo.
He learnt to put eggs into other people’s nests.
Another had to pay the magpie alimony, a heap of hazelnuts.
And the starling’s daughter, a plain creature, always grimy, carried on with a young raven!
https://youtu.be/HwpmVr8ZqF4
— now's the time!
