The book has a lot of feelings. As such there is way too much trivial dialogue between maids, housekeepers, cooks, Nan and Sarah, their pet birds, and everyone else. It actually drags the book along. Once in a while someone has an idea that leads to action (and a dead end). The heroes and heroines complain incessantly about not being able to do anything. It is group think at its worst. Then, all of a sudden, the story ends. Tyrrell, John. " The Bartered Bride ( Prodaná nevěsta)". In Macy, Laura (ed.). Grove Music Online. (subscription required) Meanwhile, Kecal is attempting to buy Jeník off, and after some verbal fencing makes a straight cash offer: a hundred florins if Jeník will renounce Mařenka. Not enough, is the reply. When Kecal increases the offer to 300 florins, Jeník pretends to accept, but imposes a condition – no one but Mícha's son will be allowed to wed Mařenka. Kecal agrees, and rushes off to prepare the contract. Alone, Jeník ponders the deal he has apparently made to barter his beloved ("When you discover whom you've bought"), wondering how anyone could believe that he would really do this, and finally expressing his love for Mařenka. Meanwhile, Kecal is attempting to buy Jeník off, and after some verbal fencing makes a straight cash offer: a hundred florins if Jeník will renounce Mařenka. Not enough, is the reply. When Kecal increases the offer to 300florins, Jeník pretends to accept, but imposes a condition – no one but Mícha's son will be allowed to wed Mařenka. Kecal agrees, and rushes off to prepare the contract. Alone, Jeník ponders the deal he has apparently made to barter his beloved ("When you discover whom you've bought"), wondering how anyone could believe that he would really do this, and finally expressing his love for Mařenka.

Nichols, Roger (2002). The Harlequin Years: Music in Paris, 1917-1929. Berkeley, Ca.: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-23736-6.

Classical and Opera

By October 1862, well before the arrival of any libretto or plot sketch, Smetana had noted down 16bars which later became the theme of The Bartered Bride's opening chorus. In May 1863 he sketched eight bars which he eventually used in the love duet "Faithful love can't be marred", and later that summer, while still awaiting Sabina's revised libretto, he wrote the theme of the comic number "We'll make a pretty little thing". [4] He also produced a piano version of the entire overture, which was performed in a public concert on 18 November. In this, he departed from his normal practice of leaving the overture until last. [8] Press comment was less critical; nevertheless, after one more performance the opera was withdrawn. Shortly afterwards the Provisional Theatre temporarily closed its doors, as the threat of war drew closer to Prague. [17] Restructure [ edit ] 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 The use of fairytale plots is very obvious but nicely refitted to the world of early industrial Europe and strong female protagonists. This plot theme loosens up as the series progresses. As in all good fairy tales there are also adorable talking animals and mysterious Fae. This redirection of the series really zings! It can also be read without reading the Elemental Masters series as a whole by starting with either A Study in Sable or an earlier volume which serves as a kind of prequel, The Wizard of London, which introduces the characters of Nan and Sarah as well as Lord Alderscroft, the titular “Wizard”.

Putting aside exactly who the marriage broker Kecal is in this new scenario, the updating works neatly in Kevin Knight’s designs and the hardworking choreographer Darren Royston’s movement. As the village hall fills up at the start, we see a prissy vicar air-conducting an LP of the overture, one of the most exhilarating in the whole repertoire. The real conductor Jac van Steen may be no Rafael Kubelik, and textures could be more airy, but he draws strong playing from the Philharmonia. In the years since its American premiere The Bartered Bride has entered the repertory of all major opera companies, and is regularly revived worldwide. After several unsuccessful attempts to stage it in France, it was premiered at the Opéra-Comique in Paris in 1928, sung in French as La Fiancée vendue. [30] [31] In 2008 the opera was added to the repertoire of the Paris Opera, in a new production staged at the Palais Garnier. [32] Vašek expresses his confusions in a short, sad song ("I cannot get it out of my head"), but is interrupted by the arrival of a travelling circus. The Ringmaster introduces the star attractions: Esmeralda, the Spanish dancer, a "real Indian" sword swallower, and a dancing bear. A rapid folk-dance, the skočná, follows. Vašek is entranced by Esmeralda, but his timid advances are interrupted when the "Indian" rushes in, announcing that the "bear" has collapsed in a drunken stupor. A replacement is required. Vašek is soon persuaded to take the job, egged on by Esmeralda's flattering words ("We'll make a pretty thing out of you"). The dance sequences are no less striking, especially the ‘Furiant’ of Act 2 where the chorus variously jive and do the Twist, and a young mother-to-be gives the glad-eye to the embarrassed vicar. It’s all meticulously crafted and leaves you wanting more. If only conductor Jac van Steen could have found his dancing shoes and peppered those Bohemian rhythms with a little more spice, the dance episodes would have had the audience tapping their feet.

This is also an era in which the values seen in the original largely hold. Marriage brokers were not exactly the norm in 1950s England, but there would have been parents then who told their daughter who to marry and expected automatic obedience, as there would have been families where the father took a harder line than the mother. Above all, the chosen setting works because it captures a time of great change as old and new values clash. If some women in the ’50s did not feel they could resist their parents, there were others who did and Mařenka is one of them. In The Bartered Brides, Lestrade is desperate for help with the latest murders, but Holmes isn't there to help, and so he turns to Dr Watson and the girls. And it's one pip of a story, as none of them, including the Lodge, can find any trace of where those headless bodies are coming from. Many other nations can also boast of "favorite sons" whose music has achieved widespread fame — but few have been as musically blessed as the Czech Republic. Leos Janacek wrote a body of internationally acclaimed operas whose music seems inseparable from the rhythms and inflections of the Czech language itself. Antonin Dvorak wrote some of the world's most popular symphonies, yet even the one called the "New World" is unmistakably bound to Czech musical traditions.

headed up by Professor James Moriarty who died at Reichenbach Falls. Supposedly. A Spirit Master who has embraced the dark side as a necromancer and Moriarty's executioner, Spencer is holding the men together. Mrs Kelly, an Earth magician, is the woman acting as his housekeeper/cook with an amazing ability to lie. Geoff the Elf is Spencer's primary henchman. Tony, Rudolfo, and Michael are an intimidating group of brothers. George is another member of the gang. David Ireland is excellent as the marriage-broker Kecal, self-important, venal, everything nasty within a somehow likeable frame; his wonderful entry song, done here with superb panache, always reminds me of Eisenstein’s entry in Die Fledermaus, a gust of materialism blowing away the sentimental smoke. John Findon is a big, shambling Vašek, but a touchingly delicate singer, very moving in his Act 2 number with Mařenka, a love duet of thoroughgoing sadism. And the parents (William Dazely, Yvonne Howard, John Savournin and Louise Winter) do as well as Smetana lets them while casting them as money-grubbing hypocrites. Someone is dumping the headless bodies of young women in the sewer. Each is dressed in what could be a wedding gown. Lestrade is baffled and none of the Watsons or Nan and Sarah's magical or psychical talents are giving them any help in finding out who or why this is happening. 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 continued to be composed in a piecemeal fashion, as Sabina's libretto gradually took shape. Progress was slow, and was interrupted by other work. Smetana had become Chorus Master of the Hlahol Choral Society in 1862, and spent much time rehearsing and performing with the Society. [11] He was deeply involved in the 1864 Shakespeare Festival in Prague, conducting Berlioz's Romeo et Juliette and composing a festival march. [12] That same year he became music correspondent of the Czech-language newspaper Národní listy. Smetana's diary for December 1864 records that he was continuing to work on The Bartered Bride; the piano score was completed by October 1865. It was then put aside so that the composer could concentrate on his third opera Dalibor. [13] Smetana evidently did not begin the orchestral scoring of The Bartered Bride until, following the successful performance of The Brandenburgers in January 1866, the management of the Provisional Theatre decided to stage the new opera during the following summer. The scoring was completed rapidly, between 20 February and 16 March. [13] Roles [ edit ] Roles, voice types, premiere cast Role

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. a ruling magical body based in London with Lord Alderscroft, a.k.a., the The Wizard of London (5) or the Lion, a Fire Master, as its leader. He is also a Member of the House of Lords, the unofficial Minister of Magic to the Crown, and a confidant of the Prime Minister. The Exeter Club, a men-only club, is the Lodge's home. They've only recently allowed women past the public dining rooms. Williams is the doorman. Lily is a maid in Alderscroft's London townhouse. His scullery maid and cook want to learn self-defense from Nan. Charles is the butler. Still, both Dvorak and Janacek owe a clear debt to Bedrich Smetana, whose efforts may have done more than any other to establish Czech music both at home and abroad. The English wordings are taken from Large 1970, Appendix C: "The Genesis of The Bartered Bride", pp.399–408Smetana began revising The Bartered Bride as soon as its first performances were complete. [9] For its first revival, in October 1866, the only significant musical alteration was the addition of a gypsy dance near the start of act 2. For this, Smetana used the music of a dance from The Brandenburgers of Bohemia. [18] When The Bartered Bride returned to the Provisional Theatre in January 1869, this dance was removed, and replaced with a polka. A new scene, with a drinking song for the chorus, was added to act 1, and Mařenka's act 2 aria "Oh what grief!" was extended. [18] Escape Rating B+: This is a fun book and has become a fun series. Originally the Elemental Masters series seemed to revolve around reworkings of classic fairy tales across various points in time where magic users who were masters of their particular elements were part of the reworking of the tales. And some entries in the series were better than others. The Bartered Bride premiered at the Provisional Theatre in Prague in 1866 in a two-act version with spoken dialogue. In America, Aaron Copland wrote music like that. The brash, wide open sound of works like "Appalachian Spring" and "Billy the Kid" seems to flow in the blood of American listeners, yet his music has also earned a place in concert halls around the world. From England, the music of Edward Elgar has crossed continents and oceans, but retains an ineffably British nature that has given him a truly special place among his countrymen.