National Theatre Brno

Take a look behind the scenes of the upcoming production before its official premiere. The preview offers a unique opportunity to meet the creative team and soloists of the opera Agrippina and learn more about how the production is created - from the first rehearsals to the final appearance on stage. She always knew what she wanted and to get it, she did not shy away from murder. Now Agrippina is the empress and once again faces the choice of whom she must sacrifice in order to achieve the imperial title for her son Nero. But in the equally ambitious Poppaea, Agrippina encounters an equal opponent...

Bedřich Smetana originally thought of a comic opera with librettist Eliška Krásnohorská. In the end, while composing his last completed opera, the composer found moments in the romantic text, inspired by an old legend about a wall of stones built by the devil on the river by the Vyšehrod monastery, that gave the whole story a different tone. Smetana's isolation in Jabkenice and his dismal health and depression were reflected in the individual characters, and the comicalness was replaced by the depth of their feelings. The humor did not disappear either, but it is combined with the desire for love, life wisdom, melancholy and devilish temptation, so that the main tone was a celebration of love, loyalty and dedication.

Take a look into the world of ballet with us! The ballet teaching team has prepared four workshop options for you, which offer participants a playful and experiential way to take a look into the world of ballet art. The workshop is adapted for kindergartens, elementary schools, high schools and grammar schools. Contact us and choose which type of workshop you are interested in. Workshop types: How to do ballet

How to do ballet MOVEMENT

How to do ballet ARTISTIC

How to do ballet MUSICALLY

Narvan is firmly connected to its roots. In the original line-up with a new singer and guitarist. After a hiatus that lasted almost a quarter of a century, the Brno funk rocket Narvan is returning to the scene with the three original members on board, supplemented by new partners. They commemorate the legacy of singer Mario and guitarist Marty with dignity and full force.

Would you also like to know what it's like to sell a bride? Smetana's The Bartered Bride is one of the iconic opera pieces, but this time we decided to bring it closer to children in particular. And because comic opera should really be fun, the members of the Janáček Opera NdB have invited the best possible guides to join them. In the new family program, the famous puppet characters Spejbl, Hurvínek and Mánička will take you directly to The Bartered Bride and the world of opera. Žeryk will also be present, as will the best musical pieces, because the popular puppets will be assisted by the soloists of the Janáček Opera NdB together with our special Smetana mini-orchestra.

Would you also like to know what it's like to sell a bride? Smetana's The Bartered Bride is one of the iconic opera pieces, but this time we decided to bring it closer to children in particular. And because comic opera should really be fun, the members of the Janáček Opera NdB have invited the best possible guides to join them. In the new family program, the famous puppet characters Spejbl, Hurvínek and Mánička will take you directly to The Bartered Bride and the world of opera. Žeryk will also be present, as will the best musical pieces, because the popular puppets will be assisted by the soloists of the Janáček Opera NdB together with our special Smetana mini-orchestra.

Experience the culmination of a major new collaboration between world-renowned international artists Crystal Pite and Simon McBurney and the amazing dancers of NDT 1. For the past four years, driven by the urgency of the times and the increasing global destruction they have witnessed, Pite and McBurney have poured their hopes and fears for our present into this moving and timely dance trilogy. The result is Figures in Extinction, a transcontinental dialogue divided into three surprising half-hour works that combine dance, performance, spoken word, documentary and music.

Would you also like to know what it's like to sell a bride? Smetana's The Bartered Bride is one of the iconic opera pieces, but this time we decided to bring it closer to children in particular. And because comic opera should really be fun, the members of the Janáček Opera NdB have invited the best possible guides to join them. In the new family program, the famous puppet characters Spejbl, Hurvínek and Mánička will take you directly to The Bartered Bride and the world of opera. Žeryk will also be present, as will the best musical pieces, because the popular puppets will be assisted by the soloists of the Janáček Opera NdB together with our special Smetana mini-orchestra.

Experience the culmination of a major new collaboration between world-renowned international artists Crystal Pite and Simon McBurney and the amazing dancers of NDT 1. For the past four years, driven by the urgency of the times and the increasing global destruction they have witnessed, Pite and McBurney have poured their hopes and fears for our present into this moving and timely dance trilogy. The result is Figures in Extinction, a transcontinental dialogue divided into three surprising half-hour works that combine dance, performance, spoken word, documentary and music.

Program 8

The junior company will present its second premiere in the 2025/2026 season in February under the title NdB 2: Dispute / Archa /Inside. The eighth premiere evening will present three original choreographies created specifically for NdB2. In a dramaturgically diverse triptych, three different authorial perspectives meet, which develop the interpretive abilities of young dancers and at the same time respond to the themes that accompany them on their path to adult artistic expression.

Perhaps none of the participants in the Venetian premiere, which was a devastating fiasco, believed that they had just witnessed the birth of one of the most popular and most performed Italian operas. Verdi found a theme close to him in the novel about the love of the courtesan Violetta and Alfredo, which is not desired by his father or society. He knew the setting well – Paris, a city full of hustle and bustle, was never his favorite, and the tragic story reminded him of his own life experience. For years he had lived in a free union with the soprano Giuseppina Strepponi and felt firsthand the society's opposition to the "illegal" relationship. His personal experience undoubtedly enhanced the understanding and compassion for the main heroine, which permeate the entire opera... The clear lyrical music, where Italian bel canto is closely combined with dramatic expression, added poignancy to the tragic love story of the famous Parisian courtesan, thus giving rise to an opera evergreen.

The title role will be performed by Pavla Vykopalová, who already celebrated great success with Alcina, and German countertenor Constantin Zimmermann and Czech countertenor Vojtěch Pelka will also be performing for the first time.

Take a look into the world of ballet with us! The 120-minute workshop offers younger school-age children (6-11 years) the opportunity to gain an insight into the world of ballet art in a playful and experiential way.

The production of Janáček's Fate, which officially opened the Janáček Brno Festival 2020, marks the return of one of the best opera directors, Robert Carsen. This creator of productions valued for their dramatic grasp, poetics and artistic refinement, returns to Janáček's operatic work to expand his Janáček productions with a sixth opera created especially for Janáček's opera NdB. The very first notes of the orchestral waltz from the overture to Fate introduce us to the noble spa society; simple natural prose is replaced here by language in the style of decadent poets, as Janáček was inspired to write this opera by a beautiful woman, twenty-eight-year-old Kamila Urválková, whom the composer met in August 1903 at his favorite spa in Luhačovice.

Director David Radok and his Rusalka as a fateful drama about unfulfilled desires and human failure, about the contradictory conflict between love and erotic desire, a drama about the sinful human soul. Since its creation, Dvořák's Rusalka has been one of the most beloved and performed Czech operas, not only thanks to its beautiful and unique music, but also to the poetic and timeless libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil, which hides endless symbolism. The theme is perfect for David Radok and a multi-layered production full of strong emotions. David Radok's scenography is based on the concept of Rusalka by scenographer Lars-Ake Thessman, presented at GöteborgsOperan in 2012.

Where did opera originate? What is a libretto? Who is a stage manager? And what does a set designer need to know? You will learn this and much more at our workshop. Participants will learn about the opera genre, the process of creating a production, the operation of the theatre and the professions that work in the theatre. It also includes a taste of opera singing. Participants will experience several activities that will give them a glimpse into the workings of an opera theatre, the opera genre and its demands. The workshop also includes a short tour of the Janáček Theatre.

One of the pillars of the classical ballet legacy is the ballet Don Quixote to music by Ludwig Minkus, inspired by Cervantes' famous novel The Ingenious Don Quixote of La Mancha. It describes the adventures of the hero, the knight Don Quixote, who is torn by imaginations moving between illusion and reality.

International Dance Day International Dance Day on April 29th is an important day for the NdB Ballet, which we celebrate every year in the form of an open air program, a gala performance or another event. As in previous years, the Brno Ballet cannot be missing from the celebrations on the piazzetta in front of the Janáček Theatre, when the open air program can already be considered a traditional form of celebration.

PROGRAM

15.00 Open Class with Jana Přibylová Any interested person can participate in the open ballet training called Open class for dancers, professionals and amateurs after registration until the capacity of the temporary ballet hall is filled. You can register here. 15.45 Exhibition The program will continue with a short concert with repertoire samples, where dancers from the NdB Ballet, students from the Brno Dance Conservatory, the I.V. Psoty Ballet School and the Filiánek Ballet School will perform.

One of the pillars of the classical ballet legacy is the ballet Don Quixote to music by Ludwig Minkus, inspired by Cervantes' famous novel The Ingenious Don Quixote of La Mancha. It describes the adventures of the hero, the knight Don Quixote, who is torn by imaginations moving between illusion and reality.

The production of Janáček's Fate, which officially opened the Janáček Brno Festival 2020, marks the return of one of the best opera directors, Robert Carsen. This creator of productions valued for their dramatic grasp, poetics and artistic refinement, returns to Janáček's operatic work to expand his Janáček productions with a sixth opera created especially for Janáček's opera NdB. The very first notes of the orchestral waltz from the overture to Fate introduce us to the noble spa society; the simple natural prose is replaced here by language in the style of decadent poets, as Janáček was inspired to write this opera by a beautiful woman, twenty-eight-year-old Kamila Urválková, whom the composer met in August 1903 at his favorite spa in Luhačovice. Kamila described to Janáček her love affair with the composer Čelanský, who portrayed his disillusionment with love in the opera Kamila. Janáček fell so much under Kamila's spell that he decided to create a "completely new, modern opera" in which she would be purified. He called Fate not an opera, but three novel-like episodes in which the viewer finds himself in a completely different environment than in his previous operas - after Jenůfí, Janáček's fourth opera Fate represents a musical and dramaturgical breakthrough into another area.

There are not many important and famous ballets of the classical and romantic era that our company does not have in its repertoire. The pinnacle of ballet romanticism, Giselle, is without exaggeration one of the cornerstones of the DNA of ballet literature. In 1841, the premiere of the new ballet Giselle took place in Paris and was such a huge success that within a decade it appeared on all the major stages of the ballet world of that time. The theme was provided by the German poet Heinrich Heine in his collection De l’Allemagne. The story of girls who died of betrayed love before their wedding and now cannot find peace in their graves was taken up by Théophile Gautier, a great theorist of romantic theatre and librettist Jules Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges. The captivating, lovely and melodic music, filled with French charm, was created by A. CH. Adam. The first performer of the fragile Giselle was one of the greatest dancers of Romanticism, Carlotta Grisi, for whom this ballet was created by choreographers Jean Corrali and Jules Perrot. In the Czech lands, Giselle gained popularity among the audience only slowly. It only reached the Brno stage in the late 1960s, when it was first performed there by choreographer Miroslav Kůra (1968). The audience will certainly remember Jiří Blažek's 1983 grand prix production with the unforgettable ethereal ballerina Soňa Zejdová and later Jana Kosíková in the title role.

There are not many important and famous ballets of the classical and romantic era that our company does not have in its repertoire. The pinnacle of ballet romanticism, Giselle, is without exaggeration one of the cornerstones of the DNA of ballet literature. In 1841, the premiere of the new ballet Giselle took place in Paris and was such a huge success that within a decade it appeared on all the major stages of the ballet world of that time. The theme was provided by the German poet Heinrich Heine in his collection De l’Allemagne. The story of girls who died of betrayed love before their wedding and now cannot find peace in their graves was taken up by Théophile Gautier, a great theorist of romantic theatre and librettist Jules Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges. The captivating, lovely and melodic music, filled with French charm, was created by A. CH. Adam. The first performer of the fragile Giselle was one of the greatest dancers of Romanticism, Carlotta Grisi, for whom this ballet was created by choreographers Jean Corrali and Jules Perrot. In the Czech lands, Giselle gained popularity among the audience only slowly. It only reached the Brno stage in the late 1960s, when it was first performed there by choreographer Miroslav Kůra (1968). The audience will certainly remember Jiří Blažek's 1983 grand prix production with the unforgettable ethereal ballerina Soňa Zejdová and later Jana Kosíková in the title role.

There are not many important and famous ballets of the classical and romantic era that our company does not have in its repertoire. The pinnacle of ballet romanticism, Giselle, is without exaggeration one of the cornerstones of the DNA of ballet literature. In 1841, the premiere of the new ballet Giselle took place in Paris and was such a huge success that within a decade it appeared on all the major stages of the ballet world of that time. The theme was provided by the German poet Heinrich Heine in his collection De l’Allemagne. The story of girls who died of betrayed love before their wedding and now cannot find peace in their graves was taken up by Théophile Gautier, a great theorist of romantic theatre and librettist Jules Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges. The captivating, lovely and melodic music, filled with French charm, was created by A. CH. Adam. The first performer of the fragile Giselle was one of the greatest dancers of Romanticism, Carlotta Grisi, for whom this ballet was created by choreographers Jean Corrali and Jules Perrot. In the Czech lands, Giselle gained popularity among the audience only slowly. It only reached the Brno stage in the late 1960s, when it was first performed there by choreographer Miroslav Kůra (1968). The audience will certainly remember Jiří Blažek's 1983 grand prix production with the unforgettable ethereal ballerina Soňa Zejdová and later Jana Kosíková in the title role.

Take a look into the world of ballet with us! The ballet teaching team has prepared four workshop options for you, which offer participants a playful and experiential way to take a look into the world of ballet art. The workshop is adapted for kindergartens, elementary schools, high schools and grammar schools. Contact us and choose which type of workshop you are interested in. Workshop types: How to do ballet How to do ballet MOVEMENT How to do ballet ARTISTIC How to do ballet MUSICALLY

Take a Step Behind the Curtain with us. A program designed for all curious people, young and old, who want to learn something new from the world of opera theater. 70 minutes of interactive, adventurous and, above all, fun journey into the heart of opera productions with soloists, choir and orchestra of Janáček's opera NdB. The educational program is suitable for secondary schools. A Step Behind the Curtain is an ideal program connecting music education with Czech or aesthetics.

Workshop for children – 60 min in the foyer of the Janáček Theatre. Only with a ticket to the performance My Homeland.

Czech Philharmonic, DEKKADANCERS, Forman Brothers Theatre. Suitable for children from 6 years old. Before the performance, it is possible to visit a workshop for children in the theatre foyer.

Workshop for children – My Homeland in the foyer of the Janáček Theatre. Only with a ticket to the performance My Homeland. Suitable for children from 6 years old.

The personality and work of Franz Kafka have inspired and provoked the expression of creators of many artistic genres, literary scholars and experts, as well as the general reading public, not only in the period of increased interest around the centenary of the writer's death. His work has gained immense popularity and recognition, and his stories, full of absurdity and existential questions, have influenced modern literature and film. Kafka is today considered one of the most important writers of the 20th century, and his work and life remain a source of inspiration and exploration for generations of readers, literary critics and artists across genres.

Director David Radok and his Rusalka as a fateful drama about unfulfilled desires and human failure, about the contradictory conflict between love and erotic desire, a drama about the sinful human soul. Since its creation, Dvořák's Rusalka has been one of the most beloved and performed Czech operas, not only thanks to its beautiful and unique music, but also to Jaroslav Kvapil's poetic and timeless libretto, which conceals endless symbolism. The theme seems to be made for David Radok and a multi-layered production full of strong emotions.

At the beginning was a short novella by the French writer Prosper Merimée about Don José, who deserted the army due to a foolish passion for a wild gypsy woman, became a smuggler and a murderer. Carmen, directed by Tomáš Pilar, returns to the original story and reveals additional layers of individual characters - the characters here are mainly people who came from completely different backgrounds. It is not just about Carmen's fleeting and unbridled love, which the jealous José cannot cope with. It is a clash of two worlds - the orderly, neat world of José and Micaëla, bound by predetermined rules, and the world of gypsies and smugglers living from day to day, without laws and controlled by momentary impulses. Their worlds suddenly intersect, but this difference causes tension and a clash that leads to the complete destruction of both of them. Neither of them is able to prevent it, because neither is willing or able to back down.