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 ...

“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 ...

It’s a sure sign of disaster when the loudest cheer during an opera comes in response to a circus divertissement. Sadly, this was the case in this, the Royal Opera’s second revival of Francesca ...

Conducted by Tomáš Hanus and directed by Dirk Schmeding, the production continues the company’s ongoing run of the opera, with performances scheduled throughout late March. The creative team also ...

Nicely timed to coincide with the 10th anniversary of Sir Peter Moore’s ‘Opera in English’ series comes this outstanding new version of The Bartered Bride. By almost any reckoning, this is the most ...

Bed?ich Smetana’s “The Bartered Bride” is one of the most beloved operas of all time, and remains to this day a pivotal work in the history of Czech language and musical history. Overflowing with ...

First performed in 1866 and set in a 19th Century Bohemian village this is the story of an arranged marriage and plenty of confusion as suitors are spurned and spurn ...