The Bartered Bride by Smetana, čt 15 lis 2018, Od (2018/2019), Režie Lubor Cukr,, Dirigent Vojtěch Spurný, Josef Štefan, Slezské divadlo, Opava, Czech Republic

On Sunday , October 21, from 7 p.m., the first premiere of the opera ensemble in the new theater season will take place, which we are dedicating to the celebrations of the anniversary of the founding of the Czechoslovak Republic. It is the opera The Bartered Bride by Bedřich Smetana. We present this comic opera written to a libretto by Karel Sabina in its original version, which premiered on October 30, 1866 and was written more like a singspiel. After being accused of Wagnerianism in Brandenburg in Bohemia, Smetana decided to write a "light opera" and revised his work several times. The last adaptation of The Bartered Bride was performed on September 25, 1870. The main change was the replacement of spoken prose with sung recitatives and the removal of the couplet of the Principal and Esmeralda He stands with the saint . This last version has been performed for nearly 150 years and has become a national opera, often performed in conjunction with our nation's celebrations. Criticism was mixed for the premiere and the adaptations. Pivoda reproached Smetana for including a ballet and a soprano aria in the adaptation of the opera – The Bartered Bride is now sighing for Paris and the added aria for the German sky... The music papers stated that the added recitatives were tasteless and E. Krásnohorská pointed out the faulty declamation. But even these criticisms did not prevent the Bartered Bride's success. The way to the world opera stages was opened for our national opera by a hospitality performance of the ND in Vienna in 1892. The most important works of B. Smetana (March 2, 1824 Litomyšl – May 12, 1884 Prague) are primarily opera and symphonic compositions, as well as piano works. Smetana created operas ranging from historical ones - Brandiboři v Čechá , Dalibor , Libuše to comic ones - Bartered Bride , Two Widows and romantic operas Hubička , Tajemstvi , Čertova stěna , which juxtapose various themes with a serious and slightly comic atmosphere. Smetana is traditionally referred to as the founder of Czech national music. The Bartered Bridefor a very long time it was the most performed Czech opera abroad, but in the last twenty years of the 20th century the operas Rusalka by A. Dvořák and Její pastorkyňa by L. Janáček came to the fore . From symphonic creations, the My Homeland cycle penetrated into the world's concert halls , and especially the Vltava from it . The plot of the charming comic opera The Bartered Bride probably does not need reminding. We all know the village matchmaker Kecal, the stuttering and immature Vašek, the emotional and energetic Mařenka and the clever Jeník. An opera from a real village setting with a rich melody and instrumentation surpassed Italian buffs and German comic operas. Smetana gifted individual characters and situations with a brilliant melody. Why wouldn't we be happy when Jeník sold Marenka to himself, Marenka tells Vašek about herself, that she is a murderer, and Vašek stutters and disguises himself as a bear?