Opera Scotland

Diary of One Who Disappeared Zápisník zmizelého; Diary of a Man Who Disappeared

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Music

Leoš Janáček (born Hukvaldy, 3 July 1854; died Ostrava, 12 August 1928)

Text

Composer

Source

Verses by Ozef Kalda published anonymously in newspaper Lidové noviny on 14 May 1916.

 

Premieres

First Performance: Brno (Reduta Theatre), 18 April 1921.

First Performance in UK: tbc.

First Performance in Scotland: Ledlanet, Kinross-shire, 29 September 1965.

 

Background

The Diary is a musical drama or song cycle in 22 short sections, lasting around 37 minutes in total.

A village youth immediately falls in love with a gipsy girl, and decides to run off to a new life with her, leaving family and village behind.

The work was originally composed to piano accompaniment.

However a successful orchestration was prepared some years after the composer's death.

 

Characters

Youth (tenor)

Gipsy girl (alto)