Opera Scotland

Dalibor 1964National Theatre, Prague

Read more about the opera Dalibor

The Edinburgh Festival, at this time under the direction of Lord Harewood, was exploring the operatic possibilities behind the Iron Curtain. 1962 had seen the leading company from Yugoslavia in a repertoire largely of Russian masterpieces. In 1963 the Hungarian State Opera and Ballet appeared with a more limited choice of works. Here, the National Theatre from Prague brought an inspiring clutch of five Czech pieces. Two of them, Rusalka and Kátya Kabanová, were receiving Scottish premieres. The other three, Dalibor, From the House of the Dead and Resurrection, were being seen for the first time in the UK.

The Prague season at the Edinburgh Festival opened with a performance of Dalibor which represented this work's British premiere. The singers were not really well known in the west. While Beno Blachut was a recognised star tenor, Vilém Přibyl was based in Brno rather than Prague and had not received such attention. The Edinburgh visit made him a star.

The production team became internationally renowned, due to this Dalibor staging as well as their Rusalka. Svoboda was particularly noted for his novel use of lighting. A total of five performances were given, and the groundbreaking production was brought back to Edinburgh on the company's second Festival visit in 1970.