Dvořák’s The Jacobin: rare manuscript offers a glimpse into the opera’s creation

This Tuesday marks the 185th anniversary of the birth of Antonín Dvořák, one of the Czech music greats. To mark the occasion, the Antonín Dvořák Museum is giving visitors a rare chance to see one of his original manuscripts, the autograph score of his opera The Jacobin. Ruth Fraňková went to see it.

The Jacobin is set in a small Czech town during the French Revolution. Its central character, Bohuš, returns from Paris with his wife and is viewed with suspicion because of his liberal views and his years in revolutionary France, earning him the label of a ‘Jacobin.’

Dvořák’s The Jacobin|Photo: Archive of National Museum

The opera also has a distinctly Czech setting, with much of the action taking place among townspeople and local characters. It premiered at Prague’s National Theatre on February 12, 1889. But bringing The Jacobin to the stage was far from straightforward, says Veronika Vejvodová, head of the Antonín Dvořák Museum.

Veronika Vejvodová|Photo: Anna Fodor, Radio Prague International

"Dvořák started composing the opera in 1887, when he was already a well-recognised composer. He had already been to England, and we could say he was already becoming a European composer, but he was not yet recognised as an opera composer. However, he had composed several operas before The Jacobin.

"The genesis of the opera was quite complicated because it was later revised. Dvořák made major changes, particularly to the third act. He made these changes after receiving criticism from prominent critics, because he really wanted to become a recognised and successful opera composer."

Dvořák worked on the opera with Marie Červinková-Riegrová, the daughter of politician František Ladislav Rieger and granddaughter of historian František Palacký. For a woman at the time, writing an opera libretto was unusual, says Vejvodová.

"She was an exceptional woman for her time, independent, we could say, and an author at a time when there were not many women in that position. Their correspondence, along with Červinková-Riegrová’s diary, shows that they worked very closely together. Dvořák made demands of her, which was somewhat unusual for him, because he would normally receive a finished libretto and then have to work with it."

Antonín Dvořák|Photo: e-Sbírky, Národní muzeum, CC BY 4.0 DEED

The opera was conceived as a comic work, but it also reflects the Czech countryside and the world Dvořák knew from his own childhood. Some of those memories seem to have found their way into the characters and scenes, she says:

"Benda, one of the characters, could probably be based on Dvořák’s real teacher from Zlonice, Antonín Liehmann, who also had a daughter. There is also the famous scene with the choir rehearsal, which probably originated in Dvořák’s memories of his time in Zlonice."

At the Antonín Dvořák Museum in Prague, visitors can now see the autograph score of the second version of Act III of The Jacobin. Dvořák returned to the opera several years after its original version and substantially reworked the act, as Vejvodová explains:

"We wanted to show the third act because that was the part that was changed the most. This is the final version of the opera, the score that was delivered to the National Theatre in Prague. Afterwards, copyists made copies of the score and the orchestral parts, while the original score was returned to Dvořák himself.

The Antonín Dvořák Museum in Prague|Photo: Eliška Vidomus, Czech Radio

“He then took it with him to rehearsals when the orchestra began working on the opera. He discussed certain things with the conductor, particularly tempos and similar details, and we can see some of these remarks in Dvořák’s own score."

The Jacobin was not Dvořák’s ultimate breakthrough as an opera composer; that came later with Rusalka. But it has remained one of his most frequently performed operas, thanks in part to its warmth, humour and affectionate picture of Czech life.

The opera is now returning to the stage as part of the Dvořák Prague Festival, in a concert performance at the Rudolfinum on September 19, conducted by Tomáš Netopil.

The autograph score is on display at the Antonín Dvořák Museum until September 30. The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.