Vienna State Opera Revives Smetana’s The Bartered Bride with New Translation & Mixed Results – Review
Vienna, Austria – A new German-language version of Bedřich Smetana’s The Bartered Bride premiered at the Vienna State Opera, sparking both praise for its musicality and critique of certain directorial and casting choices. The production, a collaboration between susanne Felicitas Wolf, Sergio Morabito, Carl Riha, Winfried Höntsch, and drawing on broadcasts by Kurt Honolka and writings by Paul Esterhazy, deliberately departs from Max Kalbeck’s classic German translation.
The new version restores character names closer to the original – Hans and Marie are now Jeník and Mařenka, and Wenzel is Vašek – while retaining Kecal as Kecal. Reviewer Renate Wagner, writing for online Merker, notes the staging presents a notably unusual interpretation of Kecal.
Slávka Zámečníková as Mařenka was lauded as “the darling of the evening,” delivering a performance described as “swell-clear, light, beautiful, beautiful…very moving.” Pavol Breslik as Jeník, however, was noted for a voice possessing “only metal,” though the reviewer conceded this is characteristic of Slavic voices. The direction’s choice to have Jeník perform in a “glitter jacket like an absolute fool” was attributed to staging, not the singer.
Michael Laurenz’s portrayal of Vašek received particular praise, being described as a “scared, lovable young man” – a departure from the traditionally portrayed stuttering character. Ilia Staple as Esmeralda was overshadowed by Matthäus Schmidlechner’s circus director.
The parental roles were filled by Hans Peter kammerer and Monika Bohinec as the more volatile pair, and Franz Xaver Bad and Margaret Plummer as the less demonstrative. Peter Kellner as Kecal was criticized for lacking both the necessary vis comica and a “full, deep bass.”
Conductor Tomáš Hanus received significant acclaim for delivering a musically rich performance, described as “precisely and elastic, so wonderfully balanced,” and showcasing “Czech music in her splendor.” Wagner notes the conductor earned far more applause than the leading team,as he ensured a musically complete rendition of the opera. Following the performers’ applause, a ”almost angry bush concert” for the leading team was audible.
