Publication details
Josef Svoboda, the Architect of Light
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| Year of publication | 2010 |
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| Description | Josef Svoboda (1920-2002) was a prodigious Czech scenographer who, in cooperation with prominent Czech and international artists (Alfred Radok, Otomar Krejča, Laurence Olivier, Leonard Bernstein), created more than 700 designs in theatre and opera houses all over the world, including the famous Metropolitan Opera and Covent Garden. Some of the productions that he was involved in have become legendary (for instance Romeo and Juliet, National Theatre in Prague 1963; The Ring, Covent Garden London 1974-5; Faust, Teatro Picolo Milan 1989-91). He was among the leading theatre artists who contributed to the introduction of the concept of “scenography” as an equal component of theatrical performance. His massive use of light as a construction material for the stage helped to conceive the highly progressive discipline of light design. Josef Svoboda was born in Čáslav. Originally trained as a cabinet-maker, he studied interior design at the Special School of Interior Architecture and architecture at the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague. Shortly after the end of the Second World War, he co-established the Grand Opera of the May 5 Theatre and soon became its chief stage designer. In 1948, he joined the National Theatre and from 1950 served there as an artistic and technical manager. He became an artistic director of Laterna Magika theatre in 1974 and its managing director in 1992. He died after a long disease in Prague. Svoboda was always more respected abroad than in his home country. His many honors and awards include honorary doctorates from the Royal College of Arts in London, Denison and Western Michigan Universities in the US, and awards from USITT and International Theatre Institute. He was also made a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters in Paris in 1976, and received the French Legion of Honor in 1993. |