Talk:The Makropulos Affair (opera)

Capek's play
It's not satisfactory that this article is about both the play (minimally) and the opera, and I am thinking of creating a separate article for the play - providing I can find sufficient well-sourced information. I have been looking around to see if a date for its premiere is available, but all I can find is an apparently erroneous date of November 21, 1920, plus the statement that when Janacek saw it in December 1922 (the 10th, not the 12th, according to the Viking Guide), it was about three weeks after the first performance. It's now looking as if that might have been on November 21, 1922, but is there a good source to confirm this? And in which theatre was the play first performed? Incidentally, I've looked at the Czech-language Wikipedia and the information doesn't seem to be available there.

The other question is, what are the differences between the play and the opera? --GuillaumeTell 21:28, 3 September 2007 (UTC)


 * Just noting that I've removed the stuff about the play to The Makropulos Affair, an article which now needs to be expanded. --GuillaumeTell 17:06, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

Article Title
I have found that in the English Speaking World, the opera is generally referred to as The Makropulos CASE rather than the Makropulos AFFAIR. Does anyone have any strenuous objections if I change the article to reflect this? -- User:Ringkichardthethird 11:41 pm, 10 November 2010. —Preceding undated comment added 07:42, 11 November 2010 (UTC).
 * Well, Opera Grove (used as the main reference-work by WP:WPO) and Penguin/Viking and Kobbé have "Affair". I believe that "Věc" means something like "Thing" and refers to the formula...
 * There's already a redirect from The Makropulos Case. --GuillaumeTell 11:21, 11 November 2010 (UTC)


 * Funny, I was just thinking the same thing. I'm not sure what common practice is in the UK, but at least in the US it is always translated as "The Makropulos Case". The Metropolitan Opera, the San Francisco Opera, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago have all used this title for their productions as evidenced by their archives. I also see from this article that the English National Opera has also used this transaltion. I would support a move to "The Makropulos Case".4meter4 (talk) 16:40, 11 November 2010 (UTC)


 * Nigel Simeone made the same point, about the "thing", in the interval discussion during the BBC Proms performance on 19 August 2016. He seemed dubious about "Case". I think a link to that programme might be a useful addition in External links, both as a notable performance and for the background explanations given by Simeone and Jan Smaczny: . It’s also relatively permanent at the BBC, I think. Any objections? Martinevans123 (talk) 08:44, 23 August 2016 (UTC)


 * No objection. Needless to move the article from affair to case, though, as both are sort of wrong ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 16:44, 23 August 2016 (UTC)


 * I agree. I have added the link. The interval starts at about 01:17. Martinevans123 (talk) 17:47, 23 August 2016 (UTC)


 * A Czech here. "Věc" does literally mean "thing", but it is, actually, also used in headings of letters and documents to indicate "Subject: ...". So the translation of "Case" seems pretty good to me in context and isn't as wrong as it might seem at first sight from taking the Czech title very literally. Whether it's the prevailing and preferred usage for the book and opera is another matter which I can't answer, though.109.80.233.174 (talk) 22:47, 12 November 2016 (UTC)
 * Google translate (of the Czech article) also favours "Case". Martinevans123 (talk) 23:18, 12 November 2016 (UTC)