The son of a Prague miller, who expected him to follow in his footsteps, Mysliveček as a young man flees to Venice to realize his dream of becoming a composer. Against all odds he manages, becomes known as "Il Boemo" (i.e. "Czech"), and his success surpasses even his own expectations. During the 1770s, he is at his most prolific, composing numerous works in the genre of Italian opera seria.[10]
The film is co-produced by the Czech Republic, Italy, and Slovakia, and was supported, among others, by the Czech Film Fund, the Italian Ministry of Culture, and the Slovak Audiovisual Fund; the producer is Jan Macola and Mimesis Film, the co-producers are Marco Alessio (Dugong Film) in Italy, Marek Urban (sentimentalfilm) in Slovakia, and Czech Television and MagicLab in the Czech Republic.[11]
Petr Václav has singled out Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon, in relation to camera work, lighting, and narrative style, and Miloš Forman’s Amadeus, in terms of working with opera and music, as particular cinematic references.[12]
The music for the film has been recorded by the Czech ensemble Collegium 1704, founder and conductor Václav Luks also served as musical advisor for the film.[13] The soundtrack was released by Warner Classics on their Erato label on 23 June 2023.[14] Another advisor was the American musicologist Daniel E. Freeman, author of the first modern monograph on Mysliveček.[15]
