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Premiere of the Bartered Bride: Scandalous production inspires and angers!
On September 28, 2025, the Vienna State Opera celebrated the premiere of “The Bartered Bride” by Smetana with an innovative production.
Premiere of the Bartered Bride: Scandalous production inspires and angers!
On September 28, 2025, the Vienna State Opera experienced a stirring premiere of Bedřich Smetana's opera “The Bartered Bride”. Dirk Schmeding's production caused a stir by transforming the tranquil Bohemian village into a shabby 1970s fairground. This unusual setting presented some challenges, as the staging distracted greatly from the action and often made it invisible onlinemerker.com reported.
The stage design by Robert Schweer contributed to the unusual atmosphere, equipped with scrap, beer tankards, sausages and a love rodeo. The all Czech and Slovak cast sang the performances in German, which ensured comprehensibility. The new German text version, which was created in collaboration between Susanne Felicitas Wolf and Sergio Morabito, was well received by the audience.
The characters and their actors
In this new production, the characters were renamed; Hans and Marie are now called Jeník and Mařenka, while Wenzel can appear as Vašek. Slávka Zámečníková received particularly high praise for her performance as Mařenka, while Pavol Breslik as Jeník impressed the audience with his metallic, Slavic-tinged voice. Michael Laurenz portrayed the lovable Vašek, who provided some amusing moments. Ilia Staple in the role of Esmeralda and Matthäus Schmidlechner as the ringmaster received mixed reviews.
A central conflict of the plot concerns Mařenka, who is confronted by Kecal and Krušina with Jeník's signature, which seals her sale. Vašek recognizes Mařenka as the attractive warning woman from the morning and declares himself ready for the wedding. This confrontation puts Mařenka in a quandary as she was betrayed by Jeník and now has to think deeply about her future. Ultimately, she calls the bride's parents and the entire village together to agree to the marriage with Vašek.
Musical highlights and the audience's response
Under the musical direction of conductor Tomáš Hanus, an overture will be heard that is described as rich and balanced. While the audience applauded the performers for their vocal achievements, there were boos for the directing team. This shows that the creative implementation of the production was not well received by all viewers. Nevertheless, the conductor received more applause than the leading team, indicating a clear appreciation of the musical quality.
In a stormy finale, father Mícha recognizes Jeník as his rejected son and offers him a hand of reconciliation. At the very end, the hope for a harmonious future between the characters becomes tangible. The production stays in the minds of the audience and shows how creative interpretations can revitalize an old story. It is already clear that “The Bartered Bride” will be a topic of conversation in Vienna.