Smetana XL

"When May comes, the time of love, the grove of songs will come to life again..."

Historical opera of three acts, libretto by Karel Sabina.

Smetana's operatic debut from 1862-63 premiered at the Provisional Theatre on 5th January 1866. This production was staged at Smetana's Litomyšl on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the premiere on 18th June 2016.

Presented in Czech with Czech and English surtitles.

Comic-romantic opera in three acts to a libretto by Eliška Krásnohorská.

The Devil's Wall is the last completed musical-dramatic work by the Litomyšl native. It premiered on 29th October 1882 at the Provisional Theatre under the baton of Adolf Čech and this production of the Moravian-Silesian National Theatre Ostrava was performed at Smetana's Litomyšl Festival also in the Year of Czech Music 2014.

Presented in Czech with Czech and English surtitles.

"The Czech nation will not end, it will gloriously overcome the horrors of hell!"

The new production (premiered on 24 May 2024) of Smetana's penultimate opera to a libretto by Eliška Krásnohorská was directed by Ondřej Havelka, a director with an excellent sense of musical theatre, stage humour and visually compelling storytelling.

The Secret, one of his most beautiful operas, was written in 1877 by a completely deaf composer. The premiere took place at the New Czech Theatre on 18th September 1878 under the baton of Adolf Čech.

Presented in Czech with Czech and English surtitles.

This drama about the desire for revenge, amorous passion and political intrigue is an extraordinary work to which it is not easy to find the key. British director David Pountney is one of the great admirers and promoters of Czech opera, who can bring a view that reveals the deepest layers of human drama.

Bedřich Smetana composed his third opera in 1866-67 and 16. On May 1868, he presided over its gala premiere at the New Town Theatre on the occasion of the laying of the foundation stone of the National Theatre.

Co-production with Welsh National Opera.

Presented in Czech with Czech, English and German surtitles.

The most popular Czech opera in a new stage adaptation for the Smetana's Litomyšl National Festival is also the most frequently performed festival title. Bedřich Smetana composed it to a libretto by Karel Sabina in 1863-66; premiered on 30th May 1866 at the Provisional Theatre. Although "Prodanka" was an immediate success, the author repeatedly revised it until the final 4th version from 1870.

Presented in Czech with Czech, English and German surtitles.

The new production of the poetic opera to a libretto by Eliška Krásnohorská is a tribute by the Opera of the Slovak National Theatre Bratislava, which started its activity with this title in 1920, to the 200th anniversary of the composer's birth.

The Kiss is the first opera that Bedřich Smetana composed in 1875-76 completely deaf. On premiere at the Provisional Theatre on 7th November 1876 he could not hear the cheers of the audience, so people shared their enthusiams by waving white scarves for him. Hubička is the third most frequently performed Czech opera after The Bartered Bride and Rusalka.

Presented in Czech with Czech and English surtitles.