# Opera poster for school assignment



## JohnnyQuest

Hello all,

So, I'm working on an Art Nouveau style poster for Dvorak's famous opera Rusalka and I was wondering if I could get a bit of help with the translation of the text into Czech.

Here's the original English I'm attempting to translate:



> Prague State Opera presents Rusalka
> 
> The  famous lyrical fairytale with music by Antonín Dvořák
> 
> Featuring Judith Burgetova singing Song to the Moon
> 
> Conductor: John Chalupecký
> 
> June 8. 2011


And here's what I have in Czech:



> Státní Opera Praha uvádí Rusalka
> 
> Slavný lyrická pohádka s hudbou Antonína Dvořáka
> 
> Představovat Jitka Burgetová zpívat Měsíčku Na Nebi Hlubokém
> 
> Dirigent: Jan Chalupecký
> 
> 8. Červen 2011


This was mostly done through Google Translate, so I'm sure it's rife with errors. Could someone look over my Czech translation and help me make sure I get it right?

Thank you so much!


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## Orlin

> 8. Červen 2011


I don't speak Czech, but I'm 99.99% sure it's wrong and should read 8. Června 2011 because in other Slavic languages the month is put in genitive when expressing dates. I'm not sure if a full stop must be added after 8 and whether months are capitalized either.


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## ilocas2

Orlin said:


> I don't speak Czech, but I'm 99.99% sure it's wrong and should read 8. Června 2011 because in other Slavic languages the month is put in genitive when expressing dates. I'm not sure if a full stop must be added after 8 either.



In Czech both possibilities are allowed when the date stands alone. But 8. června is better than 8. červen, I would say 80 % 8. června and 20 % 8. červen. Full stop is always added. It's not capitalized.


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## JohnnyQuest

ilocas2 said:


> In Czech both possibilities are allowed when the date stands alone. But 8. června is better than 8. červen, I would say 80 % 8. června and 20 % 8. červen. Full stop is always added. It's not capitalized.



Thanks for the clarification!

It feels more natural to capitalize the word on a poster though where everything is in title case; would this change the meaning of the word?

Also, does the rest of my blurb look okay?


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## ilocas2

JohnnyQuest said:


> Thanks for the clarification!
> 
> It feels more natural to capitalize the word on a poster though where everything is in title case; would this change the meaning of the word?
> 
> Also, does the rest of my blurb look okay?



Hello, I wouldn't capitalize it. But it wouldn't change the meaning.

No, it's not okay, but I don't know the opera terminology, so wait for somebody else for a translation as best as possible.


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## bibax

I do not know if Judith is Jitka.
I have a problem with "featuring ..."

My attempt:

Státní opera Praha uvádí Rusalku

Slavná lyrická pohádka s hudbou Antonína Dvořáka
Slavná romantická opera s hudbou Antonína Dvořáka

V (titulní) roli Rusalky vystoupí Jitka Burgetová
Árii "Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém" zazpívá Jitka Burgetová
Árii "Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém" v (titulní) roli Rusalky zazpívá Jitka Burgetová

Diriguje Jan Chalupecký

8. června 2011


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## JohnnyQuest

Thanks for the help!



bibax said:


> I do not know if Judith is Jitka.



My mistake; her name is Jitka.



> I have a problem with "featuring ..."
> 
> My attempt:
> 
> Státní opera Praha uvádí Rusalku



But the name of the opera is Rusalka, correct? Do grammar rules dictate that I have to end it with a "u" here, even though that's not the formal name of the play?



> Slavná lyrická pohádka s hudbou Antonína Dvořáka
> Slavná romantická opera s hudbou Antonína Dvořáka



Do you think one of these options sounds better than the other? Also, I know the composer's name is "Antonín Dvořák." Do I have to add on the a's for proper grammar? It just seems weird advertising his name in a different form on a poster.



> V (titulní) roli Rusalky vystoupí Jitka Burgetová
> Árii "Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém" zazpívá Jitka Burgetová
> Árii "Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém" v (titulní) roli Rusalky zazpívá Jitka Burgetová



So the third choice, "Árii "Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém" v (titulní) roli Rusalky zazpívá Jitka Burgetová" is what you would go with?

Thanks again!


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## werrr

JohnnyQuest said:


> But the name of the opera is Rusalka, correct? Do grammar rules dictate that I have to end it with a "u" here, even though that's not the formal name of the play?


The verb "uvádí" requires accusative object, that is "Rusalku". But you can go arround by using some generic noun in front of Rusalka, e.g. "uvádí operu Rusalka" or "uvádí pohádku Rusalka".



> Do you think one of these options sounds better than the other? Also, I know the composer's name is "Antonín Dvořák." Do I have to add on the a's for proper grammar? It just seems weird advertising his name in a different form on a poster.


It's always preferable to use declined forms in Czech, but you are right that for a poster the text in huge font should make sense on its own irrespective of the text in small fonts.

That means that "Rusalka" should be really in its basic form. You can achieve this be using the generic noun as above, or by not using whole sentences.

It needn't be problem for "Antonína Dvořáka" as "Rusalka Antonína Dvořáka" makes perfect sense in Czech (Antonína Dvořáka = by Antonín Dvořák).



> So the third choice, "Árii "Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém" v (titulní) roli Rusalky zazpívá Jitka Burgetová" is what you would go with?


I would skip this information as all Czechs know that the performer of Rusalka has to sing this particular aria. 

I would use something like this:

*Státní opera Praha*

uvádí lyrickou pohádku

*RUSALKA*

s hudbou

*Antonína Dvořáka*


V titulní roli účinkuje *Jitka Burgetová.*
Diriguje *Jan Chalupecký*.​

Just for the record, see this historically first poster for Rusalka.


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## werrr

Orlin said:


> I don't speak Czech, but I'm 99.99% sure it's wrong and should read 8. Června 2011 because in other Slavic languages the month is put in genitive when expressing dates.


8. červen = June 8
8. června = on June 8



> I'm not sure if a full stop must be added after 8


It's a must. The full stop denotes ordinal number.



> and whether months are capitalized either.


No, they are not.


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## JohnnyQuest

werrr said:


> The verb "uvádí" requires accusative object, that is "Rusalku". But you can go arround by using some generic noun in front of Rusalka, e.g. "uvádí operu Rusalka" or "uvádí pohádku Rusalka".


 
Interesting. Czech is definitely a very different language than English; it's a bit hard sometimes trying to wrap your head around concepts that don't seem to have an analogy in English and other romance languages.



> It's always preferable to use declined forms in Czech, but you are right that for a poster the text in huge font should make sense on its own irrespective of the text in small fonts.
> 
> That means that "Rusalka" should be really in its basic form. You can achieve this be using the generic noun as above, or by not using whole sentences.
> 
> It needn't be problem for "Antonína Dvořáka" as "Rusalka Antonína Dvořáka" makes perfect sense in Czech (Antonína Dvořáka = by Antonín Dvořák).


 
Okay, if it looks normal to native Czech speakers I'll go with it. The concept of changing the spelling of a person's name to suit grammar rules is just something else that seems strange to a native English speaker like myself.



> I would skip this information as all Czechs know that the performer of Rusalka has to sing this particular aria.


 
I assumed that would be the case, as that song is apparently the most popular part of the opera. I just wanted to advertise that song specifically, since I'm working on this Alphonse Mucha-style illustration of a woman looking up and singing to the moon. I might end up leaving that info out for space reasons, though.



> I would use something like this:
> 
> *Státní opera Praha*​
> uvádí lyrickou pohádku​
> *RUSALKA*​
> s hudbou​
> *Antonína Dvořáka*​
> 
> V titulní roli účinkuje *Jitka Burgetová.*
> Diriguje *Jan Chalupecký*.​
> 
> Just for the record, see this historically first poster for Rusalka.


 
Yep, that layout was about what I had in mind in terms of the font size of everything. And I actually came across that poster in doing some research; I was just unsure if that kind of wording would still work well today or if the Czech language had changed any within the last 100 years as, say, German has.

Again, a big thanks for all the help.  I actually had the pleasure of spending a couple of days in Prague earlier this year. It's a beautiful, fascinating city, and your country definitely has something to be proud of by producing one of the greatest composers of all time in Dvořák.


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## winpoj

English and other romance languages??


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## JohnnyQuest

winpoj said:


> English and other romance languages??


 
Ah, my bad! I was pointing out that I have the most familiarity with English and romance languages (primarily Spanish). English obviously isn't a romance language, although it bears some similarities to them. Czech is an entirely different world, was my point.


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## werrr

JohnnyQuest said:


> Czech is an entirely different world, was my point.


Actually, you should know that concept from English as well. The only difference is that its usage in modern English is restricted to pronouns. Using *Rusalku* instead of *Rusalka* is the same thing like using *her* instead of *she*.


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