Catalogue of Czech Television Programmes
Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959) composed his opera Greek Passion Plays between 1956 and 1959. The story, based on Kazantzakis' novel, Christ Re-crucified, draws on the tradition of performing Easter plays. A shepherd named Manolios is to portray Christ, but not everyone is pleased with his blatantly Christian urge to help a group of refugees whose village has been raided by Turks. He gradually comes into conflict with Grigoris, a greedy local priest determined to set the village against him. In spite of his virtuous nature, Manolios is eventually killed by his fellow villagers. The opera is sung in English, based on an excellent recording conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras. The impressive outdoor scenes were filmed on the Adriatic Sea.
SD | 93' | © 1999
director(s): Tomáš Šimerda
producer(s): Czech Television, RTV SLO Slovenia, HRT Croatia, RKM Czech Republic
scriptwriter(s): Tomáš Šimerda
director of photography: Jiří Kačírek
cast: Miroslav Etzler/John Mitchinson, Zdeněk Hess/ John Tomlinson, Miloslav Mejzlík /Geoffrey, Moses Andrijana Vicković/ Rita Cullis, Helena Novotná/ Helen Field and others
rights available: TV
original language: Czech
subtitles available: English
other data: Music (c) Universal Edition Vienna