The Bartered Bride

In his search for a specifically Czech sound, the composer also tried to do justice to his love and admiration for the musical comedies of Mozart and Wagner - with astonishing success. The work matured from a two-act Singspiel version with spoken dialog, first performed in 1866, to its through-composed three-act form, which was premiered in 1870. The Bride owes its breakthrough to its world success to its Viennese performance at the then Court Opera in 1896. Since then, it has been a staple of the Viennese opera repertoire.