Although in The Bartered Bride Smetana largely avoided the direct quotation of folksong, the music he composed was considered to be Czech in spirit, meaning that he succeeded in his aim of creating a ...

Coming from a rural backwater in a sparsely populated land boasting just one opera house, the Norwegian soprano Solveig Kringelborn is the archetypal small-town girl made good. Coming from a rural ...

As one of The Lowry’s partner companies, Opera North always mix their touring programme to bring something well-loved and something less well known. ‘The Bartered Bride’ is a perfect introduction to ...

Musically, Bedřich Smetana’s The Bartered Bride is marvellous, vivid, dance-infused work. In the second performance of the run, conductor Jac van Steen and the Philharmonia Orchestra were achieving ...

The opening production of Garsington Opera’s 30th-anniversary season finds the festival at the top of its game. The Philharmonia – one of the world’s leading orchestras – is in the pit, with conductor ...

With Sir Charles Mackerras at the helm, Smetana's Bartered Bride not only has a spring in her step, she's several inches off the ground for much of the duration. Mackerras isn't just well-versed in ...

“My music is rhythmic because I am Czech… the natural music of the Czechs is rhythm – strong and agile rhythm.” (Martinů). How well the conductor Jac van Steen and the director Paul Curran understood ...

Presented by Louise Fryer, from the Barbican, London. For his final festive celebration of the BBC Symphony Orchestra's 80th season, Jiri Belohlavek conducts Smetana's comic opera The Bartered Bride ...

SOME dislike The Bartered Bride because Vasek is a comic character with a stammer. Not right to laugh at people's handicaps, they say. But you could argue that to present him as a sympathetic ...

The opening production of Garsington Opera’s 30th-anniversary season finds the festival at the top of its game. The Philharmonia – one of the world’s leading orchestras – is in the pit, with conductor ...

Comic operas rarely seem comic, but this overture's riotous tempo hints at a farcical story of frivolity. Smetana adds a dollop of Czech dances to the mix and cooks up a fun-filled feast.