Bei der Grazer Erstaufführung von Verdis Oper sorgten die Musik und vor allem die grandiose Leistung von Sophia Brommer als Titelheldin in einer klassischen Inszenierung für eine Sternstunde.
Smetana wrote Prodaná nevěsta (“The Bartered Bride”) as a light Czech folk piece in a playful reply to critics who said that his music was too Wagnerian, or too German for that matter – something not compatible with the growing Czech national consciousness in the period he composed it (1863–66), even though he only showed mild interest in the Czech cause.
