  ero s onoga svijeta (usually translated as ero the joker, literally ero from the other world) is a comic opera in three acts by jakov gotovac, with a libretto by milan begoviÄ based on a folk tale. the genesis of the opera was at vrliÄka Äesma in the town of vrlika, a hometown of milan begoviÄ. according to croatian musicologist josip andreis, ero s onoga svijeta is "not only the most successful croatian comic opera to this day, but also the only croatian opera with a presence in the theaters abroad".majer-bobetko 2011, p. 72 ==characters== * marko, rich peasant, bass * doma, his second wife, mezzo soprano * Äula, marko's daughter from the first marriage, soprano * miÄa (ero), young man from the nearby village, tenor * sima, millman, baritone * shepherd boy, child soprano * a young man, tenor * girls (6 solos), women (8 solos), men, shepherds, fruit-merchants (4 solos), merchants (4 solos), children and other village people. the opera takes place in a small town, somewhere in the plain at the foothill of dinara mountain in herzegovina, in early autumn. ==orchestra== * 3 flauti (iii muta in piccolo), 2 oboi, corno inglese, 3 clarinetti, 2 fagotti (ii muta in contrafagotto) * 4 corni in f, 3 trombe in c, 3 tromboni, tuba * timpani, percussioni, arpa, pianino * i violini, ii violini, viole, violoncelli, contrabassi * sul palco: organo ==history== composition of the opera began on october 10, 1932 and progressed in three stages, being finished on may 8, 1935. the first performance was on november 2, 1935 at the croatian national theatre (hrvatsko narodno kazaliÅ¡te) in zagreb, and the opera has since become the most performed work of south slavic music literature. the first performance was conducted by gotovac himself, and he felt that the opera was nicely received by the audience. in  milan katiÄ described the opera in superlatives, and in belgrade pravda straÅ¾iÄiÄ shared this positive sentiment. an often-quoted dismissive opinion ("and again a croatian composer wrote an opera in vain") allegedly found in lujo Å afranek-kaviÄ's review in jutarnji list, a zagreb-based newspaper, has been found by recent research to be a fabrication. the actual review was generally very positive, with Å afranek-kaviÄ giving particular praise to the gotovac score, while having reservations about the quality of the libretto.majer-bobetko 2011, pp. 73â74 ero the joker saw its first performance outside yugoslavia in brno, czechoslovakia, translated into czech in 1936, and after that it came back to the national theater (narodno pozoriÅ¡te) in belgrade, y
1935_operas Operas