What is Fate (opera)?
'''''Fate''''' (in Czech: ''Osud''), is an [[opera]] by the [[Czech Republic|Czech]] [[composer]] [[Leoš Janáček]]. Janáček wrote this opera between [[1903]] and [[1905]]. His daughter Olga had died shortly before he began to compose it. He had also just finished his opera ''[[Jenůfa]]'' which has a tragic ending for the young girl in the story. The young lady who wrote the [[libretto]] (words) for Janáček had been one of his daughter’s close friends. She wrote using the name Tálská. Janáček thought the opera had [[autobiographical]] ideas. He also wanted a change from writing about simple, country people as he had done in ''Jenůfa'', so the people in the story of ''Fate'' belong to the upper classes, the rich people of society. The story of the opera is quite strange and unbelievable. It has often been criticized for not being logical. The story consists of lots of little scenes which make the story jump about. The language of the libretto is very deliberately old-fashioned. [[Czech Republic|Czech]] people who have worked with this opera have often felt that this [[formal language]] has made it hard for audiences to understand. Some people have felt that when the opera is sung in other languages it is sometimes better because the language sounds more real. Nevertheless, although the opera has had these criticisms, the music is some of the best music that Janáček wrote. == Story of the opera == The story takes place at the beginning of the [[20th century]], which was the time in which Janáček was composing it. In Act I Gentlemen, students and young girls are walking about in a [[health resort]]. The men are interested in a girl called Míla. Míla sees a young man called Živný in the crowd. Živný is a [[composer]]. He and Míla used to be lovers. They had a child. She tells Živný that it was her mother who made them split up so that she could marry someone rich. Her mother had made her move away from [[Prague]] to give birth to the child in the [[countryside|country]]. The two lovers now want to forget their