Creating Barče : character study of an operatic role

The purpose of this thesis is to discuss a possible way of studying an operatic role from the performers’ point of view. The content of the thesis focuses mostly on the character study, since it is an important part of the study process that is sometimes neglected both by voice students and professional singers. The author uses the character of Barče from Bedřich Smetana’s opera The Kiss (orig. Hubička) as an example for the analysis. The methods used in the thesis to analyse the text and explore and build the character are a combination of the author’s own experience gained through her studies and extracts from the renowned Stanislavski Acting Method. The questions “Why singers might sometimes not pay enough attention to the study of the text and of the character they are about to portray?”, “Why Stanislavski is not an outdated source of inspiration for actors?” and “How and why his system could be beneficial for opera singers?” are discussed in the Introduction. Since it is also beneficial for the interpreter to be familiar with the origin of the piece, the background of The Kiss is included afterwards. Analysing a character is not possible without knowing the context of the story. Therefore, a synopsis based partly on the libretto and partly on a synopsis from the composers piano score of the opera was added. “Creating Barče” is the name of the chapter that deals with the character study – inspired not only by the title but also by the process of text study described in Stanislavski’s book Creating a Role. A short paragraph named “Following Steps” puts the character analysis back in the context of the role preparation and suggests a possible procedure for studying the music