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''The Excursions of Mr. Brouček to the Moon and to the 15th Century'' (Czech: ''Výlety páně Broučkovy'') is the complete title of Leoš Janáček’s fifth opera, based on two Svatopluk Čech novels, ''Pravý výlet pana Broučka do Měsíce'' (1888) (''The True Excursion of Mr. Brouček to the Moon'') and ''Nový epochální výlet pana Broučka, tentokráte do XV. století'' (1889) ('‘The Epoch-making Excursion of Mr. Brouček, this time to the 15th Century'’). The librettists for Part 1 were František Gellner, Viktor Dyk, František Sarafínský Procházka and others, while Part 2 was written by F. S. Procházka.〔Holden, p. ?〕 This two-part satirical opera was premiered at the National Theatre in Prague on April 23, 1920, the only Janáček opera not premiered in Brno.〔Tyrell, ''New Grove Dictionary'', pp. 1–3〕〔Cooper, p.3〕 Mr. Brouček (translated as “Mr. Beetle” (literally little beetle)) is a Philistine landlord in Prague who experiences a series of fantastic events as he is swept away (due in large part to excessive drinking) first to the moon and then to 15th-century Prague, during the Hussite uprising against the Holy Roman Empire in 1420 (see Synopsis). In both excursions, Brouček encounters characters who are transformed versions of his earthly acquaintances.〔Nigel Simeone. ''The Excursions of Mr Brouček''. CD Liner Notes. London: The BBC, 2007), pp. 5–10.〕 Due to the popularity of the original novels by the iconic Czech writer, Svatopluk Čech, the opera was met with much scrutiny. Janáček experienced a number of setbacks in the creation and rehearsal of the work, especially in dealing with librettists (See Background).〔Vogel, pp. 237–238.〕 The composer’s aim in ''The Excursions of Mr. Brouček'' was apparently quite specific: “I want us to be disgusted with such people, to stamp on them and strangle them when we meet them,”〔Shawe-Taylor, p. 59〕 speaking of Brouček. Janáček’s campaign, along with Čech’s, was against the pettiness of the bourgeoisie, specifically of Czechoslovakia. However, according to Desmond Shawe-Taylor, who saw the opera performed in Czechoslovakia, most observers reacted with cheerful laughter and even felt a bit sorry for the poor fellow Brouček.〔 He became almost lovable rather than despised, as Janáček had originally intended, and his shortcomings, failings, and ordinariness tend to be seen as qualities common to regular citizens of all lands. ==Composition history== The composition of Janáček’s ''The Excursions of Mr. Brouček to the Moon'' was a long process complete with no fewer than seven librettists. The original concept of the opera was to be based on a still popular novel series of the same name by Svatopluk Čech (1846–1908). After beginning the composition, Janáček set out to find a librettist who would fit his interpretation and realization of Čech’s stories.〔Tyrrell, ''Janáček’s Operas'', pp. 161–224〕 In the early 20th century, Janáček sought to write an opera based on Čech’s novels; however, Čech outrightly denied him the rights to his stories. Janáček eventually put the project aside until Čech’s death in 1908. At this time, Janáček was reminded of his previous desire to set the story and sent letters to Artuš Rektorys, a friend of his in Prague, asking him to check the availability of the rights now that Čech had died. Rektorys responded with news that Čech’s family was hesitant to release the rights, but after hearing from Janáček himself, they agreed to give him sole use of the novels.〔 Shortly after being granted permission to begin composition, another composer, Karel Moor had also written to Rektorys inquiring about Janáček’s ''Brouček''. Moor claimed he was given sole permission to the stories by Čech’s younger brother, Vladimír. This matter was quickly attended to and it was found that Moor had not received valid permission. This did not stop him from producing an opera; it reached the stage in 1910 some ten years before Janáček’s, but with none of the success or longevity. In March 1908, Janáček had set out to find a suitable librettist. Rektorys had recommended Karel Mašek; however, Mašek was not overly willing to undertake the assignment, a precursor to future trouble with the piece. After many discussions and a warning from Mašek that he was very much preoccupied, Janáček had sent his needs to Mašek with a deadline for Act I’s completion. By July 1908 it had becoming increasingly clear that Mašek and Janáček had two very different ideas as to the outcome of ''Brouček''. Mašek wrote that Janáček’s ideas were too far from the original novel, which portrayed Brouček as haughty. Other conflicting views include the addition of two characters not in the original piece, the Young Waiter and Mazal. With the Young Waiter, Mašek conceded, but said this about Mazal:
These disagreements paired with Mašek’s over-commitment with other works at the time led to his self-dismissal from the project in October of the same year. Janáček rebounded quickly from the loss of the librettist and started investigating a replacement. In November 1908, Josef Holý was invited to the project, but he refused due to lack of interest in the material and said “If there is not the will or the right mood, it would not turn out well, however I tried, and so I ask you to count me out.”〔 With Holý gone, Janáček turned to Dr. Zikmund Janke, an ear, nose and throat doctor working both in Prague and Luhačovice. As with Mašek, there was a general disagreement between what Janáček had in mind and what Dr. Janke envisioned. Janáček was very amiable with colleagues and accepted what Janke had given him, including his harsh words.〔 At this point, Janke had written an entire first act and started on the second when Janáček sent him a new outline to follow with new characterizations for ten of the roles. Out of all that was written thus far, only two lines of a drinking song survived the final cuts of Janke’s work in the first act.〔 In 1910, Janáček discovered through letters with Artuš Rektorys that Josef Holý, who originally turned down the project, had produced a ballet entitled ''The Moon''. This shows that Holý had more interest than he had previously let on, as the ballet was conceptualized on Čech’s story of Brouček. In April 1911 Janáček reconnected with Holý asking for help with a song during the moon scene.〔 The next librettist was introduced to Janáček by Holý to help spread the work load around. František Gellner, a satirical poet, would eventually contribute the most work to the piece that still survives today of all the librettists that worked on the project. They worked together from June 1912 until June 1913, where a standstill took place and Janáček set to work on other projects. Gellner did write an ending to the piece, so why the pause happened is really only known to Janáček, as conceptually the structure was finished with only details remaining. However, the work resumed in November 1915 when Janáček decided that ''Brouček'' was worth finishing and promptly set to work finding the next librettist in line for the job.〔 The position went to Josef Peška, one of the men who helped secure ''Jenůfa'' in Prague. With great enthusiasm he joined the list of writers who had accepted the work without reading the previously written libretto or musical score. Once Peška had read all the provided materials he sent a prompt response to Janáček reminding him to observe other people's renditions of the same piece. Most importantly he told Janáček a piece of information that will come back as critics review the opera after it reaches the stage, and that is that one needs to know Čech’s story in order to understand the humor in Janáček and Gellner’s version.〔 He wrote a very private version, where one must have preexisting knowledge of the storyline to fully appreciate the piece. In addition he sent him a list of new librettists who could help complete the project, with F.S. Procházka at the top. It is unclear whether Janáček sent Gellner’s ending to the opera to Procházka, because he created one of his own, starting with Act 3 until the end. Janáček gave his librettist complete freedom in range when it came to writing. He would provide an action, then state his indifference to how the action is accomplished, only that it needed to be.〔 When something did not work for him, he would simply rewrite it himself. With this practice, Janáček wrote a larger piece of the work than most of the librettists did. The piece was finished in 1916 with only details remaining, including the ending written by Gellner, and then adjusted by Janáček. A friend of Janáček, Jiří Mahen, was then enlisted to help overhaul sections of the opera. This position was used for editing purposes, but mostly the work that Janáček had provided, not necessarily the work of the other librettists. Mahen was uninformed as to how many others had worked on the piece, and was also unaware that it was actually completely done and set to music.〔 After spending much time on the opera, Mahen was also surprised to learn that not only had the work been finished, but that Viktor Dyk had been penned as ''the'' librettist.〔 Janáček explained this in a letter to Mahen (naturally, he demanded satisfaction) saying that Dyk had approved of the original version Janáček had in mind, that so many others tried to change and had then supplied a more appropriate ending that fits more to Čech’s ending of the story.〔 Dyk and Janáček had worked diligently changing around music, text, scenes, characters, etc. to their liking, keeping only bits and pieces of what others had done. Mašek’s work was reduced to two lines of work and Dr. Janke’s work to a drinking song. The rest was removed in letters between Dyk and Janáček from Brno to Prague and vice versa.〔 Viktor Dyk was arrested for resistance activities against the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so again Janáček was in need of a new partner.〔 Instead of finding a stranger to the piece, he went back to F.S. Procházka and asked his help in fine-tuning a few songs and scene changes, which he gladly accepted. Up until this point the opera ended when Mr. Brouček returns from his 'moon voyage' only to find out that it was a drunken dream, but after reteaming with Procházka, Janáček posed the idea to start dramatizing the second Čech novel, ''The Excursions of Mr. Brouček to the XV Century''.〔 The two quickly leapt on this idea and began writing at once. By the end of 1918, they had compressed the entire opera into three acts, Act 1 in Prague in 1920, Act II on the moon and Act 3 in Prague in 1420. They even added a new set of characters that stayed with the opera’s theme of recurring characters through this new third act (see list of characters). In October 1918 Janáček had learned that ''Brouček'' would be performed at the National Theatre in Prague, given some adjustments to be made to costumes and set pieces. With the new trimmed-down version with three acts, there were fewer scene changes to be made, which pleased National Theatre Director Schmoranz.〔 After discussions, casting and orchestra rehearsal, there very few changes still needing to be made (most were vocal range issues — Janáček wrote very high tessitura for singers). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Excursions of Mr. Brouček to the Moon and to the 15th Century」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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