The Devil's Wall

'''''The Devil's Wall''''' ({{langx|cs|'''Čertova stěna'''}}) is a comic-romantic opera in three acts, with music by [[Bedřich Smetana]] and libretto by [[Eliška Krásnohorská]], in their third operatic collaboration. The subtext of the plot is a Czech legend of a sheer rockface that overlooks the [[Vltava]] river, near the old monastery of Vyšši Brod, where the Devil was said to have halted the building of the monastery by damming the [[Vltava]], which then rose and flooded the site.

'''''The Devil's Wall''''' ({{langx|cs|'''Čertova stěna'''}}) is a comic-romantic opera in three acts, with music by [[Bedřich Smetana]] and libretto by [[Eliška Krásnohorská]], in their third operatic collaboration. The subtext of the plot is a Czech legend of a sheer rockface that overlooks the [[Vltava]] river, near the old monastery of Vyšši Brod, where the Devil was said to have halted the building of the monastery by damming the [[Vltava]], which then rose and flooded the site.

==Background==

Krásnohorská had originally intended her scenario to be serious in nature, a symbolic representation of the conflict between the Church and the Devil. By contrast, Smetana had wanted a less serious treatment. She acceded to his demands and provided such a scenario, but then Smetana changed his thinking on the story. He reworked the plot such that he turned the young girl, Hedvika, into a surrogate for Lord Vok's late first wife, and the story became more serious in that aspect. As a result of these changes, Krásnohorská and Smetana did not have contact for a year and a half, and Smetana made substantial changes to Krásnohorská's submitted libretto without her input, deleting up to 500 of her original verses.

Krásnohorská had originally intended her scenario to be serious in nature, a symbolic representation of the conflict between the Church and the Devil. By contrast, Smetana had wanted a less serious treatment. She acceded to his demands and provided such a scenario, but then Smetana changed his thinking on the story. He reworked the plot such that he turned the young girl, Hedvika, into a surrogate for Lord Vok's late first wife, and the story became more serious in that aspect. As a result of these changes, Krásnohorská and Smetana did not have contact for a year and a half, and Smetana made substantial changes to Krásnohorská's submitted libretto without her input, deleting up to 500 of her original verses.

==Performance history==

==Performance history==

Productions continued in Prague during the 20th century; in 1974 one by [[Josef Svoboda]] was conducted by [[Bohumil Gregor]] (who had led the previous production in Prague) with [[Libuše Márová]], Jindřich Jindrák, [[Ivo Žídek]], [[Beno Blachut]], Anna Bortlová and [[Gabriela Beňačková]].<ref>Eckstein, Pavel. ''[[Opera (British magazine)|Opera]] Autumn 1974 Festival Issue'', p.119.</ref>

The first UK production was by University College Opera, in London, in February 1987.<ref>[[Winton Dean|Dean, Winton]], "Music in London: Opera - ''The Devil's Wall'' (April 1987). ''The Musical Times'', '''128''' (1730), pp. 217-221.</ref>

The first UK production was by University College Opera, in London, in February 1987.<ref>[[Winton Dean|Dean, Winton]], "Music in London: Opera - ''The Devil's Wall'' (April 1987). ''The Musical Times'', '''128''' (1730), pp. 217-221.</ref>