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The Bartered Brides

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Paul Curran’s 2019 The Bartered Bride, set in late 1950s Britain, makes a welcome return to the Wormsley Estate in Rosie Purdie’s likeable revival. With a new cast, this folksy happy-ever-after rom-com continues to enchant and amuse. Aside from the opera’s attractive music, the universal appeal of the work (premiered in 1866 and first heard in Britain in 1895) depends on local character and small incident rather than on any broadly dramatic element which, with the best will in the world, is fairly minimal – boy loves girl whose parents have arranged for her to marry another, yet all comes right in the end. This production is enlivened more by the colourful and diverting characterisations from within the chorus of villagers (almost a template for Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring) than the principal singers who, good as they are, bring uneven performances with few moments that either startle the ear or moisten the eye. The scene change between Act I’s church hall and Act II’s pub is also notable because, with the cast being heavily involved in it, it is hard to know where performers end and stage hands begin. It includes some men continuing to dance around the maypole as a way of wrapping the ribbons tight before carrying it off, and it really looks as if workmen are taking up the lino in the kitchen. The pub paints a picture of 1950s English village life as people play darts, and patrons head to and emerge from the ‘ladies’ and ‘gents’ throughout the scene. When Vašek sings ‘Ma… ma… ma… matička’ everyone moves to the other side of the room within seconds, and it is noticeable how the women tend to stay in groups, which is realistic since many may not have ventured into a pub alone in the ’50s. Lesueur, François (22 October 2008). "Enfin par la grande porte: La Fiancée vendue". ForumOpera.com . Retrieved 30 November 2015. (in French) The action and dialogue flow freely, mingling with beautiful descriptions of European countryside and just a hint of romance…. A well-developed heroine and engaging story.”— Publishers Weekly As Kecel, David Ireland’s presence is as commanding as his bass-baritone, while John Findon, with his splendid tenor, is genuinely funny as Vašek, though he always ensures that the humour remains in keeping with the character. Whether he is nervous because a woman has merely passed him to go to the ‘ladies’, desperately trying to stomach even just a few gulps of beer or simply sprinting to the (wrong) toilet, it is impossible not to warm to him. With strong support from Yvonne Howard as Ludmila, William Dazeley as Krušina, Isabelle Peters as Esmeralda, Frazer Scott as the Strongman, John Savournin as Mícha and Louise Winter as Háta, this is not so much an evening in which there is nothing not to like, as one in which there is everything to enthuse about.

Eichler, Jeremy (2 May 2009). "Smetana's buoyant Bride". The Boston Globe . Retrieved 22 June 2009. Brandow, Adam (April 2005). "Czech Spirit Enlivens J.O.C.'s Bartered Bride". The Juilliard Journal Online. New York: Juilliard School. XX (7). Archived from the original on 21 November 2008 . Retrieved 21 June 2009. The final opening night of this summer’s Garsington opera season certainly whets the appetite for more Smetana. But given that Paul Curran’s 2019 production (revived here by Rosie Purdie) transposes the action from 19th-century to 1960s Britain, with Elvis fans doing the twist in place of the polka, it’s odd to find an entirely non-Czech cast parroting the original Czech rather than presenting the comedy in an English translation. With misplaced snobbery, “an exotic and irrational entertainment” is evidently still how the Brits like opera best.

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Director Rosie Purdie has retained the bustling level of stage business from the original production. There is a Reverend Richard Coles lookalike vicar conducting the overture with the sound emanating from a retro record player, a district nurse running a bucolic dance class and women in period costume fussing over cake icing. There is a glorious maypole dance and the dynamism of the circus troupe corralled by tenor Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts as a Leigh Bowery-esque Ringmaster brought energy and momentum to the production. The opera was performed more than one hundred times during Smetana's lifetime (the first Czech opera to reach this landmark), [28] subsequently becoming a permanent feature of the National Theatre's repertory. On 9 May 1945 a special performance in memory of the victims of World War II was given at the theatre, four days after the last significant fighting in Europe. [29] After a performance at the Vienna Music and Theatre Exhibition of 1892, the opera achieved international recognition. It was performed in Chicago in 1893, London in 1895 and reached New York in 1909, subsequently becoming the first, and for many years the only, Czech opera in the general repertory. Many of these early international performances were in German, under the title Die verkaufte Braut, and the German-language version continues to be played and recorded. A German film of the opera was made in 1932 by Max Ophüls. Anon. (20 February 1909). " Bartered Bride at Metropolitan". The New York Times . Retrieved 24 May 2020. (subscription required) Mary O'Brien's parents, Ned and Meggie, sell her to Gerald "Jerry" Baker, who is moving to Canada. Her older sister, Sally, had also married a man who going to Australia. Peg had been in service but became pregnant by the master. Xi'er is an ugly Chinese woman carefully prepped by Shen Li.

Large has commented that despite the colour and vigour of the music, there is little by way of characterisation, except in the cases of Kecal and, to a lesser extent, the loving pair and the unfortunate Vašek. The two sets of parents and the various circus folk are all conventional and "penny-plain" figures. [42] In contrast, Kecal's character – that of a self-important, pig-headed, loquacious bungler – is instantly established by his rapid-patter music. [10] [42] Large suggests that the character may have been modelled on that of the boastful Baron in Cimarosa's opera Il matrimonio segreto. [42] Mařenka's temperament is shown in vocal flourishes which include coloratura passages and sustained high notes, while Jeník's good nature is reflected in the warmth of his music, generally in the G minor key. For Vašek's dual image, comic and pathetic, Smetana uses the major key to depict comedy, the minor for sorrow. Large suggests that Vašek's musical stammer, portrayed especially in his opening act 2 song, was taken from Mozart's character Don Curzio in The Marriage of Figaro. [43] Film and other adaptations [ edit ] Bass-baritone David Ireland was splendid as the oleaginous marriage broker Kecal, puffed up with his own sense of cleverness. His voice was bursting with the marriage broker’s self-confidence with his physicality adding depth to his characterisation.Prodaná Nevěsta; 팔려간 신부; Проданная невеста; La Fiancée vendue; La novia vendida; Satılmış Nişanlı; La núvia venuda; Myyty morsian; La sposa venduta; Prodaná nevěsta; Die verkaufte Braut; 売られた花嫁; Prodana nevesta; Продадена невеста; Brudköpet; Den solgte brud; Cô dâu bị bán đi; Prodana nevjesta; Վաճառված հարսնացուն; Sprzedana narzeczona; La Promesa venduda; הכלה המכורה; Az eladott menyasszony; Продана наречена; Η ανταλλαγμένη νύφη

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