December13 2025 (Sat)
6:00 PM
6:00 PM
The Bartered Bride
Opera by Bedřich Smetana
The National Theatre in Prague
3 hours | Opera and Ballet | Available
| Date: | December 13, 2025 | 18:00 (Sat) |
|---|---|
| Venue: | The National Theatre in Prague |
| Duration: | 3 hours |
| Intermission: | Yes (20 minutes) |
| Status: | Available |
| Reviews: | (6) |
Ticket in your mobile device accepted
Bedřich Smetana’s Bartered Bride presented by the acclaimed Prague National Theatre soloists
Czech original version with English surtitles
For over 150 years, The Bartered Bride has been regarded as a jewel among Czech operas. Said to be now part of the Czech DNA, its popularity even eclipses that of Bedřich Smetana, its creator. Yet at the time when it came into being, in the 1870s, The Bartered Bride was a rather daring experiment.
Smetana and the librettist Karel Sabina masterfully mocked all those who expected the “national opera” to be an idyllic picture of the Czech countryside, with its inhabitants being virtuous and governed by high morals. The Bartered Bride is thus far more humorous than “national”. Nonetheless, its humour is precisely of the type Czechs so love, and hence Smetana’s opera, abounding in irony, scathing, occasionally even cynical, wit, as well as tenderness and simple joie de vivre, has ultimately become “national” in the best sense of the word ...
To date, the National Theatre in Prague has made 20 productions of The Bartered Bride. The 21st was entrusted to the film and stage director Alice Nellis. What will prevail now? Sentimental foregrounding of the life in a picturesque Czech village, or jest and the self-irony with which Smetana and Sabina imbued their opera? Don’t guess. Come and see for yourself!
Performing:
National Theatre soloists
National Theatre Chorus
National Theatre Orchestra
National Theatre Opera Ballet
Important:
- 20 min. intermission
- Purchased tickets cannot be returned or exchanged.
- No discounts are provided.
- Theatre is a cultural institution. Please respect the common principles of appropriate behaviour and clothing.
- The program may be subject to change.
- The price includes service fee of 3,7 € (100,- CZK)
Venue photo gallery
The National Theatre in Prague
| Address: | Národní 2 , Praha 1 |
|---|---|
| Capacity: | 933 |
| Type: | Theatre |
| Winter heating: | Yes |
| Wheelchair access: | Yes |
The National Theatre is the most important and representative theatre of the Czech Republic
The Prague National Theatre was built from the desire of the Czech people for national independence. Its building was financed from the collections on which participated broad masses of people as well as important donators (including the nobility and the emperor himself). The theatre foundation ceremonial on 16th May 1868 became a national celebration.
The theatre was opened in 1881. In the same year the theatre burned down, and this tragic event caused a huge wave of new collections to support the restoration of the theatre. The Prague National Theatre was re-opened in 1883 by the opera Libuše by Bedřich Smetana and since then it has been serving as a place of Czech national identity and as a flagship of the Czech culture to these days.
How to get there:
- Accessibility by Prague public transport:
metro B (yellow line) - Národni třída station
tram - Národní divadlo stop - Nearest car parking:
The underground car park of the National Theatre
Monica Prihoda | June 12, 2024 | 19:30 (Wed)
Viktoria SCHWEIZER | May 08, 2023 | 19:00 (Mon)
La présentation "la fiancée vendue" de Smétana très originale dans sa mise en scènce avec excellentes voix. Bref, une très belle soirée. A refaire.
Andreas Fuchs | March 31, 2023 | 19:00 (Fri)
Henri Gervy | January 01, 2023 | 17:00 (Sun)
Nous souhaiterions, ma femme et moi, vous expliquer pourquoi nous avons choisi le mot "faible". Noos tenons expressément à faire une distinction entre le lieu du spectacle ( Narodni Divadlo ) et la musique de Smetana d'une part, et la représentation ( la mise en scène ) d'autre part. Autant la salle de l'opéra et la musique de Smetana nous ont enchantés - comme d'habitude -, autant la mise en scène nous a fait déchanter! Comment tolérer dans un tel "lieu sacré" (le Théatre NATIONAL, construit avec l'argent du PEUPLE TCHEQUE) et pour l' OPERA NATIONAL TCHEQUE, repris chaque année début janvier, un tel mépris des spectateurs en majorité tchèques! Comment tolérer de voir des 'acteurs' et 'chanteurs' déambuler en jeans et baskets sur scène façon HIP HOP, alors que le livret nous propose des danses folkloriques en habits folkloriques!!! C'est un sacrilège!!! Je tiens à vous préciser que ma femme (Zdena) est d'origine pragoise et a été OUTREE de voir un tel mépris de l'âme et de la culture tchèques. Cela nous a conduit à quitter la représentation à la fin du premier acte: c'est la première fois en 50 ans que nous agissons de la sorte. IL FAUT A TOUT PRIX NE PAS NOUS LAISSER ENVAHIR PAR LA SOI-DISANTE CULTURE WOKE ET PROTEGER NOTRE PATRIMOINE CULTUREL ET CIVILISATIONNEL. Nous le devons bien aux générations qui nous ont précédées et qui ont lutté pour LA LIBERTE, la leur et la nôtre. Merci de faire passer le message à qui de droit. Zdena et Henri