farce with singing followed by opera, world premiere
In 2024, it will be 200 years since the birth of Bedřich Smetana – a composer who laid the foundations of Czech music and, in a broader context, Czech culture. As part of the Year of Czech Music, the Smetana200 program will take place throughout the country, the main goal of which is to celebrate the personality of Bedřich Smetana and his work, to spread awareness of his music and, in this context, to promote the image of the Czech Republic as a country with enormous musical and cultural potential. Not only in connection with this anniversary, the Municipal Theater of Brno decided to take a look at one of Smetana's most famous works through its own lens and chose the comic song The Sold Bride for the new premiere at Bishop's Court.
It is certainly not a surprise that the audience will not see the traditional presentation of the popular Prodanka, but rather a new original adaptation of this iconic work. In 1883, Vilém Černický, a civil servant, journalist, publicist and editor of Textilní listý, wrote a one-act comedy called Why would we not be happy. The play was dedicated to the Society of the Czech National Theater in Brno, which at that time had already been actively trying for two years to create the conditions for the establishment of an independent Brno theater performing regularly in Czech in a city that, so far as culture was concerned, was almost exclusively German.
This is how a small play about the rich Radov Vostrovský, who supports the activities of a volunteer association preparing the premiere of The Bartered Bride on his farm, was created. However, just a few hours before the announced premiere, the ensemble loses its leading soloist, so the Vostrovský council and director Koubek must quickly find a representative for the lead role of Jeník. But it wouldn't be a proper comedy if family problems didn't interfere with artistic worries. The landowner's daughter Ludmilka wants to marry a young man who does not have her father's support, the landowner's wife is running out of theater volunteers who stretch out on the farm, patience, and Baron Jesenický comes into this. There is no shortage of comical situations, and Prodanka is still being rehearsed without the main tenor. Of course, if everything goes well, the audience at Biskupské dvor will also get everything they like about the popular opera. The production promises to offer a singing-play classic in an attractive version even for an audience that does not normally seek out this genre. Under the direction of Igor Ondříček, the ensemble and orchestra of the Brno Municipal Theater will perform on the summer stage under the Petrova towers.
