"Every Czech is a musician," an old Czech saying goes. Perhaps that's why Prague is the only city in the world that has three opera houses. If you want to see the opera in Prague, you can visit Narodni Divadlo (The National Theater), a gold-roofed neo-classical building, Statni Divadlo, (The State Opera), a sumptuous nineteenth-century opera house and the Baroque Stavovske Divadlo, Prague's oldest theater.
Photo courtesy of Marianne Crone
Czechs are devoted opera goers, and works of Antonin Dvorak, Bedrich Smetana, Leos Janacek and Bohuslav Martinu are always on the repertoire in one of the three theaters. But non-Czech composers also receive a warm reception – Mozart is certainly Prague's favorite composer.
Czechs are keen musicians, and this is probably why Mozart's opera The Marriage of Figaro, was received favorably in Prague. Mozart tried to build a career in Vienna, but the public reacted indifferently to his works.
Photo courtesy of Marianne Crone
In 1887, Mozart went to Prague and witnessed the Figaro fever, which had gripped the whole city. This visit brought Mozart a contract for another classic opera, Don Giovanni, in which a womanizer stops at nothing to make as many conquests as possible before his acts are unraveled and he ends up in hell.
The opera was commissioned by the impresario of what was then the Nostitz Theater and now Stavovske Divadlo. Don Giovanni has been on the repertoire ever since. It is easy to get tickets for Don Giovanni, because it's performed four or five times a week, year in year out.
