SMETANA: Die Verkaufte Braut [CD de audio] Robert Koffmane, Traute Ritcher, Ralph Peters, Staatsoper Berlin Chor & Orchester, Sm

Die Verkaufte Braut (original Czech title Prodaná nevěsta, in English The Bartered Bride), is a comic opera in three acts with music by Bedřich Smetana and a Czech libretto by Karel Sabina. The opera is considered a great contribution to the development of Czech music. It was composed during the period 1863/66 and was first performed in Prague on 30 May 1866 in a two-act format with spoken dialogue. The opera was initially unsuccessful, and was revised and expanded over the next four years. In its final version, premiered in 1870, it quickly gained popularity and eventually became a worldwide hit... After a performance at the Vienna Music and Theater Exhibition of 1892, the opera achieved international recognition. It was performed in Chicago in 1893, in London in 1895 and arrived in New York in 1909; It subsequently became the first, and for many years the only, Czech opera in the general repertoire. Many of these early international performances were in German, under the title Die verkaufte Braut, and the German version is still performed and recorded, as can be seen in this version by the Staatsoper Berlin Chor & Orchester with Hans Lenzer conducting, and Robert Koffmane, Traute Ritcher and Ralph Peters as the main soloists. Contains an additional booklet, in English and German, with extensive information about the work.