Comedy on the Bridge

Veselohra na mostě' (Comedy on the Bridge) is a radio opera in one act by Bohuslav Martinů to a Czech libretto by the composer, based on the comedy by Václav Kliment Klicpera and composed in 1935 in Polička.[1] It has later been staged successfully, in America and Czechoslovakia.

The composer at this time in his career was able to explore the possibilities of new media for opera in two works composed in 1935 in response to commissions from Czechoslovak Radio: Hlas lesa (The Voice of the Forest), and Veselohra na mostě (Comedy on the Bridge). The latter's "simplicity of means and effective characterization fulfil perfectly the requirements for radio opera".[2]

  1. ^ Rybka, James (2011). Bohuslav Martinu: The Compulsion to Compose. Scarecrow Press. p.198.
  2. ^ Smaczny, Jan. Bohuslav Martinů. In: The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Macmillan, London & New York, 1997.