Operas by Bedřich Smetana on the Ukrainian Stage
Operas by Bedřich Smetana on the Ukrainian Stage

Summary/Abstract: The last decades of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth century saw an intensive development of theatre life in Ukraine. The core repertory consisted of plays with a high proportion of incidental music. Motifs from rural life were particularly popular. The plot of Smetana's Prodaná nevěsta [The Bartered Bride] matched the traditional repertory well. What is more, it was possible for the local theatre companies to perform Smetana's score at an appropriate level. Smetana became one of the most frequently performed opera composers thanks to his second opera and was regularly included in the programme of Ukrainian theatres before the First World War, along with S. Moniuszko, P. Mascagni, W. Zeleński, S. Gulak-Artemovsky or M. Lysenko. At the time of the establishment of Ukrainian opera stages after the World Wars, Smetana was still a popular author, as documented in detail by the study. Apart from Prodaná nevěsta, his Dalibor also began to be performed.

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