The Bartered Bride, Opera by B. Smetana
The Vienna State Opera's production of The Bartered Bride by Bedřich Smetana tells a tale of Czech village life that still has something to say to modern audiences with an audacious, almost cynical wit. In keeping with Viennese tradition, this version of the three-act comic opera is produced in German with plenty of updates and touches to bring out the poetry and downright directness of the original libretto, written by Karel Sabina. Initially conceived as a two-act musical play with spoken dialogue, Smetana updated The Bartered Bride into a full opera after it had failed to make a lasting impression on audiences. Following its premiere on 30 May 1866 at the Provisional Theatre in Prague, it was first performed in the three-act format it is now known for at the same theatre on 25 September 1870.
One of the most well-known of all Czech operas, The Bartered Bride tells the tale of a group of villagers at a festival. The eponymous bride is Mařenka who will soon meet the man she will be betrothed to. However, she loves another, a young man named Jeník. Shortly thereafter, Mařenka and her parents are in the hands of a local marriage broker who proposes a suitable match. However, Mařenka objects to the union and, so the broker agrees to meet Jeník in person to try and thrash out a deal.
In the second act, Mařenka meets the young man she is supposed to marry but he doesn't realise who is talking to when the would-be bride tries to warn him off. Meanwhile, after much beer drinking, Jeník is persuaded to give up his love for Mařenka when he is incentivised by money, something that shocks many of the locals. Having bartered away his girlfriend, the story takes a somewhat unexpected turn when a group of circus folk arrive in the village amid the celebrations. How will Mařenka react when she discovers what Jeník has agreed to?
Although Smetana's music for The Bartered Bride doesn't take any melodies directly from Czech folk songs, traditional musical forms feature in the work. For example, the opera includes polka rhythms as well as furiant ones, a Bohemian folk dance meter that shifts between duple and triple patterns. This gives the opera a distinctive sound that is not heard in many other examples of the sort of 19th-century operas still staged today. This production of The Bartered Bride at Vienna's premier opera house will undoubtedly beguile audiences as the opera has continued to do for over a century and a half.