About the work
Anfang eines Romans (The Beginning of a Romance) is an opera in one act by Leoš Janáček to a libretto by Jaroslav Tichý (pen name of František Rypáček), based on a story by Gabriela Preissová. Janáček composed the work in 1891; it premiered in 1894 at the National Theatre in Brno.
Plot
The opera depicts a brief love affair between a count and a peasant girl in Moravian Slovakia, framed by folk songs and dances of the region.
Cultural significance
Janáček himself later dismissed the work as a naive 'empty comedy' and distanced himself from it; its significance lies chiefly in marking the start of his collaboration with Gabriela Preissová, whose story later provided the basis for Janáček's first major opera, Jenůfa.