Video streamed event and on demand: The Bartered BrideNew production

When a spirited peasant girl is promised to a stranger, she uses every last ounce of cunning and charm to thwart her parents’ plans and get the man she actually loves.

Brimming with charm, The Bartered Bride is generally recognised as the quintessential Czech opera. Surprisingly in a ‘folk opera', the chorus is given comparatively little to do, and instead the heart of the opera is the dazzling succession of duets: a loving duet for hero and heroine at the beginning and an angry one at the end; an immensely skilful one for Mařenka and the stuttering Vašek and, in another contrast of opposites, the brilliant duet for the high-spirited Jenik and the ponderous Kecal. Smetana's character drawing was especially sharp in this opera. Teatro Real has entrusted their new production to director Laurent Pelly, known for making comic operas genuinely funny, and resident music director Gustavo Gimeno.