Two one-act operas written within a decade of each other by Czech composers, but in very different circumstances. Both are based on literary works written around the beginning of the 19th century. The performances were given at the Semper Opera in Dresden, as part of the Dresden Music Festival.
Martinu Comedy on the Bridge
This radio opera - with a text by the composer after a play by Vaclav Klicpera - had its first performance in 1937. It is a lighthearted satire on war, concerning the predicament of a group of people trapped in no man's land. Sung in Ernst Roth's German translation.