Smetana: The Bartered Bride

As soon as conductor Adam Fischer engages the warp engines and shifts the well known overture into hyperdrive, we know we're in for an exciting performance of Bedrich Smetana's masterpiece, The Bartered Bride. As soon as the wonderful Lucia Popp begins lamenting her impending arranged marriage to the son of the rich landowner Micha from the neighboring village, we know that this will also be a lyrical and emotionally satisfying performance. And as soon as we see the traditional stage sets and costumes, we know that we are witnessing a performance conceived and designed before today's European penchant for updating opera to some strange locale with minimal sets and costumes. This staging of The Bartered Bride is traditional and revels in it.Filmed live at the Wiener Staatsoper in 1982, the appearance of the townsfolk, wearing their traditional Bohemian costumes, exhuberantly singing and dancing, serves to quickly draw us into the early 1870s and this engaging comedy of love nearly thwarted but ultimately triumphant. Smetana was a confirmed Wagnerian who bridled under the usual criticism of that breed: Wagnerians are great at your typical end-of-the-world conflagration, but they are about as funny as a slow tour of a sausage factory. Smetana set out to prove that he could do funny. The first few years following its 1871 premiere, now in its familiar three act version, were largely unsuccessful. The opera failed to find its audience. All that changed when the libretto was translated into German by Max Kalbeck. It became the basis for the subsequent wildly successful performances at the Theater an der Wien in 1893. It is that German translation that is used here for Otto Schenk's 1982 production.The late Czech singer Lucia Popp stars as Marenka (Marie). A favorite ever since I first heard her in Klemperer's brilliant 1964 recording of Mozart's The Magic Flute, her ability to fully inhabit a role is in evidence here. Her singing is as lyrically lovely as ever. Siegfried Jerusalem is her beloved Hans. Heinz Zednik is Wenzel, the boy she is forced to marry. Karl Ridderbusch is Kezal, the disreputable town matchmaker. These three Wagnerian singers are a reminder of the roots of this opera and they are splendid. The entire cast is excellent. Superior casting coupled with traditional costumes and lovely set design, yields a positive result: we are pulled, unresisting, into the world of this opera, and we are saddened to leave it when it ends. That's the signature of an exemplary performance. The Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper play beautifully for conductor Adam Fischer. Total time of this DVD is 155 minutes. Sound is in PCM stereo and DTS 5.1, both sounding clear and full. The picture has been digitally remastered and is clear with no artifacts given its age. There are the usual DGG languages, menus and previews.This is a splendid performance of a great comic opera. It will brighten your day. Strongly recommended.Mike Birman

whether or not your experiences with opera had been limited to Puccini, Verdi, or Mozart, or you are a Wagner lover (or hater), this one is not to be missed. Smetana's music was considered to be Wagnerian; however, there is nothing to worry about, there is not a trace of Wagnerian in this opera. And surprisingly, there is not a single Czech folksong included in the score. Though, the feeling of Czech folk music in the air is evident.The opera itself is very pleasant to watch and listen. The cast, the presentation, the setting, the quality of the disc, are totally first rate. In general, the singing and acting of the cast members are superb. If you are a fan of Lucia Popp, you will not be disappointed. If you are not a fan of her, you will become one (after watching this). Watch (not just listen) her in the entire Act 3, I bet you have never seen anything like that (in opera) before. Just a little draw back on the part of Siegfried Jerusalem, though he sang through the entire opera smoothly; however, the second act aria was horrible. I wish he could sing like Peter Dvorsky (in another `Bride' DVD, Suppaphon SU 7011-9) or Fritz Wundelich (in CD, EMI CDMB 64002 or the recent re-release EMI 0946 3 81872). There was some problem in his acting too. As V. Stasov pointed out in his review, this guy (Jerusalem) kept his hands in his pockets the whole time. Surely it is annoying. The best-case scenario would be that he just follows the stage director's orders. It is hard to imagine who would let him to do that for the whole 2+ hours? Just too bad it happened. Despite this, this video still deserve a 5-star rating, no doubt.Finally, my recommendation would be to acquire all three versions that I mentioned here. That is: 2 videos (this one, and the one from Suppaphon with Gabriela Benackava) and the EMI CD (with Pilar Lonrengar and Fritz Wundelich). You will not regret it.

All is well...except the tenor. Jerusalem has sung too many heavier rolls and his voice, even at this earlier stage shows it. His acting is effective; but, his voice simply only fills-out the roll, Good traditional production.

After slogging through the Barenboim Ring with all of its pretentious staging, laser lights and silly costumes it was pure joy to step into this lovely staging of Smetana's Masterpiece. I have loved the Overture and Dances since childhood and, while this opera may not be among the great works for the lyric stage, it is so full of honest merriment that it should not be missed. The traveling circus, all bumbling and inept, is an added treat in this wonderfully traditional staging. Many may realize that the production was staged by Otto Schenk who also designed the Ring Cycle for the Metropolitan Opera. Jerusalem, singing in both the Wagner and the Smetana, sounds almost the same. He sounds nearly as fresh in the rigors of the Ring, one of the most taxing of roles. This season the Met presents Schenk's atmospheric staging of the Wagner one last time before the lasers take over. To recapture what opera was like in simpler times, I recommend this highly.

An excellent performance, but not my favorite of the three available DVD versions. Much as I admire Popp (a favorite singer, and I’m keeping this mainly for her lyrical moments in Acts 1 and 3 ) and Jerusalem (another favorite but perhaps too aggressive for this opera, more in his Wagner than his Gypsy Baron persona), as well as Zednik (here more Mime than Vacek) and Schenk (a characteristically beautiful production), I prefer the charm of Stratas and Gedda in the Met version, the over-the-top performance of Vickers as Vacek (Peter Grimes turned childlike and loveable), plus the Broadway-style production. My favorite overall is the Czech TV version (because Benackova is the most charismatic Bride and perhaps mostly because the opera just sounds more natural in Czech than in the German of the present version). Overall an excellent performance; it just didn’t make me enjoy the opera as the Met version does or actually like it as the Czech version does.

Me ha gustado el sonido, la orquesta y los subtitulos en español. También los cantantes. No me convence el formato dvd por la calidad de la imagen y la mala adaptación a las televisiones actuales. Buena orquesta y cantantes. Adoro a Lucía Pop y creo que la compra ha sido buena.

Je terminai mon commentaire de la version ancienne, en tchèque, dirigée par Karel Ancerl (1947) par «h préférer une version vidéo sous-titrée ». Ne pas chercher ailleurs que celle-ci, en allemand, l’un des spectacles enregistrés de l’opéra de Vienne retenus par mi ses meilleurs par la critique Diapason.On voit ici des chanteurs que l’on a entendus dans les grands Wagner ou R. Strauss s’amuser visiblement dans cet opéra-comique. Cette œuvre est célèbre dans la « Mittle Europa », ailleurs, elle l’est surtout pour son ouverture et sa polka.Mise en scène et costumes traditionnels. Il faudrait citer tous les premiers rôles, excellents, sans oublier les seconds, tel le directeur du cirque, joué plus que chanté par le vétéran Erich Kunz (je renvois à ses opérettes vienneoises avec Karajan et Schwarzkopf dans les années Cinquante). Le benêt de Zednik est aussi génial que son Mime. Ridderbush en impose toujours par sa corpulence et ses notes basses. Jérusalem à l’aise dans un rôle plus facile que Siegfried. Emotion de revoir et d’entendre la délicieuse Popp. Le chef Adam Fischer faisait ses débuts à l’opéra de Vienne, au début de sa belle carrière.Rien à ajouter : la référence.Sous titrage en français.

Smetana's 'Bartered Bride' has to be one of the most joyfully inspiring operas ever composed. It gives cause to wondering why it became fashionable to write so many operas with tragic endings. Then again, why is this work not performed more often? This is a 4:3 recording originally from a 1982 production of the work. Only one other CD recording of this work seems to be available and no Blu-Ray.One of the delightful aspects of this production is the costuming, which is true to the historical period in question, providing the viewer with a glorified picture of what Czech rural life used to be like in the Nineteenth Century. Costumes, work, dancing, match making and circuses are all evocative of those times, which begs the question as to why it has become fashionable to stage so many works in another day and age outside of that originally intentioned.Lucia Popp is just perfect in the role of Marie, the bartered bride, and is well matched by Siegfried Jerusalem in the role of her true love Hans brilliantly portrayed by Seigfried Jerusalem.. In fact, all participants play and sing their parts to the best possible standard as they depict the various characters. During the period of the Nineteenth Century in question the Czech provinces of Bohemia and Moldova were part of the Austral-Hungarian Empire with German as well as Czech being widely spoken in that region, which is why this work is often sung in German even though it's all about Czech people.Matchmaker Kezal (Karl Ridderbusch) arranges for Marie to wed Wenzel, the shy, stuttering son of smallholders Agnes and Micha, but the wily Marie succeeds in misdirecting his attentions away from her. Then it appears that Hans has sold her for money. There's lots of dancing and it all gets very complicated. Wenzel takes a fancy to a woman in the circus called Esmeralda, which leads him to join the circus and dress up as a fake bear. It looks as if Hans has sold Marie for a tidy sum of money, but he hasn't really and all ends well. Both picture quality and sound are of the best and I could not fault them, although some experts might be able to do so. This is why it's good not to be an expert sometimes. This begs the question: does an expert carpenter, who loves opera, enjoy watching it more than an expert opera critic who enjoys carpentry?This performance is an uplifting joy to watch and I just hope that, if they soon perform another production of it they won't reset it, say, in Roman times or in present day Hyde Park. Thanks Smetana! You're the greatest and this work has made you immortal. Thoroughly recommended.

Die Inszenierung von Otto Schenk ist zeitlos, naturalistisch pralles Musiktheater.Eine sehr gute sängerische Ensembleleistung macht diese Aufführung zu einem opernhistorischen Ereignis. Heinz Zednik als komödiantisch, buffonesker Wenzel , Karl Ridderbusch als personifizierter Kezal, souverän , witzig , verschlagen. Siegfried Jerusalem, noch mit lyrischer Stimmfarbe, zeigt zwar kleine Schwächen, ist aber insgesamt überzeugend. Lucia Popp mit ihrem unverwechselbaren,lyrisch cremigen Timbre, eine der großen Stimmen der Opernbühne , singt eine hinreissende Marie. Adam Fischer präsentiert die "Wiener" mit hinreissender Attacke und feiner Nuancierung, große Klasse. Klanglich überrascht diese ältere Aufnahme durch eine offensichtlich gelungene Klangrestaurierung, mit besserem Ergebnis als einige Neueinspielungen.

Eine hervorragende Besetzung sängerische und auch darstellerische Besetzung mit Lucia Popp als Marie, Siegfried Jerusalem als Hans, Karl Ridderbusch als Kezal und vor allem auch Heinz Zednik als Wenzel, dazu eine brillante und spritzige Inszenierung von Otto Schenk, der - im Gegensatz zu den meisten heutigen Regisseuren - sein Handwerk noch versteht, was will man mehr? So muss Oper sein!