Bücher von Timothy Cheek

Czech composer Leoš Janáček’s, most famous opera, Jenůfa is a harrowing tale of forbidden love, abandonment, hypocrisy, desparation, and tragic infanticide. As today’s second most frequently performed Czech opera (following Dvorák’s Rusalka), Jenůfa holds a prominent place in international opera repertoire and continues to draw attention of new audiences. Drawing on both scholarly studies and production experience, Timothy Cheek presents an original English-language translation of the original Czech libretto. As with the first two books in the Janáček Opera Libretti series (Pr''hody lisky Bystrousky, The Cunning Little Vixen and Kát’a Kabanová), this volume consists of two parts. Part One gives background on the opera, a discussion about the various voice types and roles, Janáček’s style and Czech performance traditions, and a summary of Czech pronunciation and inflection. Much has been written about Jenůfa, and this book offers the most practical and interesting information in one source for both performers and opera lovers in an easy to read format. Part Two is the main part of the book, with the original Czech libretto, word-for-word English translations, idiomatic English translations, IPA for pronunciation of the Czech, translations of the stage directions, and notes about certain words in Czech dialect.As a valuable resource not only for performers and directors, but also historians and opera lovers, Cheek''s text brings new accessibility to a beloved and timeless opera.

Known worldwide as a composer of symphonies and chamber music, Czech composer Antonn Dvork declared toward the end of his life that his main love was writing operas. Written in 1900 at the height of Dvork's creative powers, his fairy tale opera Rusalka is a masterpiece firmly established in the international repertoryfrom 2010 to 2012 alone, over 200 performances of 27 productions of the opera played in 21 European cities alone! Worldwide, music schools and summer programs have mounted the work, as well, reflecting not only the power of Dvork's music but the lyricism and depth of Jaroslav Kvapil's Czech libretto, one of the greatest of all opera libretti, regardless of language. This book serves as an aid to anyone seeking to perform and gain a deeper understanding of this multi-layered opera, which so trenchantly asks what it means to be human, to love, and to be loved in return.In the first part, Czech music scholar Timothy Cheek offers a thorough review of Czech lyric diction and inflection, describes the characters and their vocal requirements, and supplies a synopsis of the plot, an elucidation of the layers of meaning in Kvapil's libretto, a section on musical style and dance elements, and a fascinating explanation of why such a remarkable work took so long to be embraced by Western audiences. In the second half, Cheek gives word-for-word and idiomatic English translations of the Czech libretto, including stage directions, along with the International Phonetic Alphabet for pronunciation. Rounding out the book are illustrations from the Prague National Theatre, New York Metropolitan Opera, and elsewhere, as well as an appendix listing recordings and videos.Rusalka: A Performance Guide with Translations and Pronunciation is written for singers, pianists, vocal coaches, conductors, stage directors, translators, and opera enthusiastsanyone who wishes to perform the work, or who is simply moved and intrigued by this stunning opera.

Bedrich Smetana's opera The Bartered Bride is cherished as the Czech national opera and is the most popular Czech opera in the world. This book presents a detailed guide to performing the opera in Czech and is an indispensable aid for those performing the work in English. It includes a performance history, discussions of the dances, word-for-word translations of the Czech, pronunciation through the International Phonetic Alphabet, appendixes, and an index.

This book is the second volume in a series devoted to the Czech operas of Leos Janácek. Word-for-word and idiomatic English translations are provided along with the International Phonetic Alphabet and practical notes on style, to help singers, condcutors, coaches, stages directors, and devoted Janácek fans all to gain an understanding of the opera and how best to perform it in its original language.

Placing Chinese Community Party history in the realm of social history and comparative politics, this text studies the roots of the policy failures of the late Maoist period and the tenacity of the CCP.