Smetana: The Bartered Bride

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This is also an era in which the values seen in the original largely hold. Marriage brokers were not exactly the norm in 1950s England, but there would have been parents then who told their daughter who to marry and expected automatic obedience, as there would have been families where the father took a harder line than the mother. Above all, the chosen setting works because it captures a time of great change as old and new values clash. If some women in the ’50s did not feel they could resist their parents, there were others who did and Mařenka is one of them. The energy and dynamism cannot be faulted, as every chorus member is handed a unique character that they maintain throughout the evening. Kevin Knight’s sets ensure that when it is their turn to take centre stage the results are overwhelmingly joyous, but when their presence is to add context they do not excessively distract from the central action. Act I sees the church hall comprise a main area, with a largely cut away proscenium stage at one end, and a small kitchen, separated by a door, at the other. This enables Mařenka’s lengthy Act I scene with Jeník to take place in the latter more intimate space, while workmen tinker with spotlights in the main hall. All of the chorus members are involved in the dancing, and the Polka that ends Act I becomes a maypole routine that is as impressive for its design as its obvious exuberance. There are also some beautiful touches as an upset Mařenka leaves the dance, and everyone rushes towards her for spoiling it before realising they have unbalanced the maypole and it is on the verge of collapse. The Bartered Bride 20 June 2008". Národní divlado (National Theatre, Prague). June 2008. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011 . Retrieved 21 June 2009. A New York Metropolitan staging was in 1996 under James Levine, a revival of John Dexter's 1978 production with stage designs by Josef Svoboda. In 2005 The Bartered Bride returned to New York, at the Juilliard School theatre, in a new production by Eve Shapiro, conducted by Mark Stringer. [35] In its May 2009 production at the Cutler Majestic Theatre, Opera Boston transplanted the action to 1934, in the small Iowan town of Spillville, once the home of a large Czech settlement. [36] Music [ edit ]

The Bartered Bride premiered at the Provisional Theatre in Prague in 1866 in a two-act version with spoken dialogue. The Bartered Bride (Czech: Prodaná nevěsta, The Sold Bride) is a comic opera in three acts by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, to a libretto by Karel Sabina. The work is generally regarded as a major contribution towards the development of Czech music. It was composed during the period 1863 to 1866, and first performed at the Provisional Theatre, Prague, on 30 May 1866 in a two-act format with spoken dialogue. Set in a country village and with realistic characters, it tells the story of how, after a late surprise revelation, true love prevails over the combined efforts of ambitious parents and a scheming marriage broker.Putting aside exactly who the marriage broker Kecal is in this new scenario, the updating works neatly in Kevin Knight’s designs and the hardworking choreographer Darren Royston’s movement. As the village hall fills up at the start, we see a prissy vicar air-conducting an LP of the overture, one of the most exhilarating in the whole repertoire. The real conductor Jac van Steen may be no Rafael Kubelik, and textures could be more airy, but he draws strong playing from the Philharmonia.

Robinson, Lisa B. (November 2011). "Met-Juilliard Bride Bows". The Juilliard Journal Online. New York: Juilliard School . Retrieved 30 November 2015. Two sets of parents bring slender characterisations: William Dazeley is a defeated-looking Krušina and husband to Yvonne Howard’s more assertive Ludmila, while John Savournin makes for an anonymous Mícha, but is nicely contrasted by Louise Winter’s feisty Háta. Their combined presence in Act 3 is not dramatically enhanced with the arrival of Kecal for their ensemble number where they simply stand motionless and face the audience without any internal interaction. More rewarding is the partnership found in Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts’ circus Ringmaster and Lara Marie Müller’s sweet-toned Esmeralda, their duet presented with aplomb. A word too for the circus troupe whose dextrous acrobatics and juggling lifts the mood in spectacular fashion. Big celebrations are promised in the Czech Republic for next year’s bicentenary of Bedrich Smetana, the “father of Czech opera” and composer of other orchestral and chamber music masterpieces. All eight of his operas will be staged as a cycle in Ostrava, but elsewhere we’ll have to make do with the familiar titles: no hardship when it comes The Bartered Bride, a score of sublime musical fecundity.

Lesueur, François (22 October 2008). "Enfin par la grande porte: La Fiancée vendue". ForumOpera.com . Retrieved 30 November 2015. (in French) In the years since its American premiere The Bartered Bride has entered the repertory of all major opera companies, and is regularly revived worldwide. After several unsuccessful attempts to stage it in France, it was premiered at the Opéra-Comique in Paris in 1928, sung in French as La Fiancée vendue. [30] [31] In 2008 the opera was added to the repertoire of the Paris Opera, in a new production staged at the Palais Garnier. [32]