Šárka

Before the opera begins, during Libuše's reign, women experienced a golden age and the female population had become the privileged members of society, but after her death this was not the case, causing a revolt that produced a female army, of whom Šárka was the fiercest warrior. As the opera opens, the morale of the male troops is flagging, yet is restored by the young Ctirad, who guards Libuše's tomb. The women enter the sepulchre, but are scared by the appearance of Ctirad, and swear vengeance. Šárka plans to trap the young male warrior, and the maidens tie her to a tree, apparently open and helpless. Ctirad finds her, takes pity and unties her, falling in love with Šárka, but she also falls in love with him. As they sleep in each other's arms, Šárka remembers her resolve and uses her horn to call for the maidens to come and kill Ctirad and his warriors. During the funeral for Ctirad, Šárka, grief-stricken, throws herself onto his pyre and dies in the flames, the chorus sings a lament for the lovers. Czech Bedřich Smetana composed the tone poem Šárka as the third part of his cycle "Má Vlast", which does not contain the final suicide narrated in the opera.

Estratto dalla sezione Synopsis dell’articolo Wikipedia di Šárka — testo rilasciato con licenza CC BY-SA 4.0. Leggi la trama completa →