The Bartered Bride has done very well on record and this
new version can join the list of distinguished predecessors.
For many years, Smetana’s most popular opera was the
Czech opera, but nowadays it has been somewhat overtaken by
Dvořák’s Rusalka and the great stage-works
of Leoš Janáček. The Bartered Bride,
however, has not lost its charm and I have greatly enjoyed this
performance. Listeners are spoiled for choice when it comes
to recordings. If you want a totally authentic Czech account,
there is the Supraphon set with Gabriela Beňačková
and Peter Dvorský as the lovers and the inimitable Czech
Philharmonic under Zdeněk Košler. There is also a
version in English with Sir Charles Mackerras and the Philharmonia
Orchestra and Royal Opera Chorus on Chandos that has been acclaimed.
Finally, if German is your language of choice, Rudolf Kempe’s
famous recording with Pilar Lorengar and Fritz Wunderlich is
still available on EMI. How does this newest version stack up
against those?
First of all, no conductor today surpasses Jiří
Bělohlávek when it comes to interpreting Czech music
of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He made a wonderful
recording a few years ago of Janáček’s The
Excursions of Mr. Brouček with the BBC forces and native
Czech soloists, as on this Smetana set, one of the only Janáček
operas Mackerras never recorded. As chief conductor of the BBC
Symphony Bělohlávek did much to champion Czech music
and especially to bring to the larger public works that have
not been heard that often, such as the symphonies of Martinů
and Suk. After listening a number of times to this Bartered
Bride, it is clear that the BBC Symphony can sound as Czech
as one of their native orchestras. The well-known orchestral
excerpts, Overture, Polka, Furiant, and Skočná,
burst forth with vitality and rhythmic acuity, and the BBC Singers
do the choruses proud. If anything, both orchestra and chorus
are more infectious than their counterparts on the Supraphon
recording. When it comes to the soloists, though, everyone has
favorites. I have always held Gabriela Beňačková
high in my esteem in this repertoire. Her voice has a certain
purity and warmth that places it above most others in Czech
music. Dana Burešova in this new account may not erase
memories of Beňačková, but she is very good.
Her voice has the necessary lightness and no pronounced Slavic
vibrato, even if she is a bit cooler than her predecessor. When
it comes to the role of Jenik, Peter Dvorský and Tomaš
Juhás are fairly evenly matched. The outstanding performance,
though, in the new set is that of the stuttering Vašek,
Aleš Voráček. He has quickly become my favorite
of this particular cast. All of the other parts are also taken
well. So, overall, The Bartered Bride is served superbly
in this new recording. The sound, too, unlike some past efforts
recorded at the Barbican Centre, has warmth as well as the necessary
clarity. The opera really comes to life. I would love to see
a video of the performance, even if it was not staged.
The Czech music specialist Jan Smaczny provides the notes in
the accompanying booklet. He gives the background to the opera
and a detailed discussion of what it took to get the work to
its final, definitive form. He plays down the folk element and
points out the more important influence of French, Italian,
and German Romantic opera on the composer. There is, however,
one black mark on Harmonia Mundi I have to mention. The text
of the opera is given in French (presumably because the label
is French) and English, but not in Czech. Furthermore, the English
translation is a very loose one that does not follow the original.
The translation is by Kit Hesketh-Harvey who took the part of
the Indian (a circus performer) in the Mackerras English-language
version, so the translation in the booklet is likely the one
used on the Mackerras recording (which I have not heard). There
is a note in the booklet directing the listener to Harmonia
Mundi’s website for the original Czech libretto. Still,
it would be cumbersome to follow that at the same time as reading
the English version in the booklet. Better to go to Supraphon’s
website where there is a side-by-side Czech libretto and English
translation that closely follows the original text.
In all other respects, this is a fine addition to The Bartered
Bride discography.
Leslie Wright
alternatively
CD: MDT
AmazonUK
AmazonUS
Mařenka - Dana Burešova (soprano); Jenik - Tomáš
Juhás (tenor); Kecal - Jozef Benci (bass); Vašek - Aleš
Voráček (tenor); Micha - Gustáv Beláček
(bass); Háta - Lucie Hilscherová (mezzo); Krušina
- Svatopluk Sem (baritone); Ludmila - Stanislava Jirků (mezzo);
Ringmaster - Jaroslav Březina (tenor); Esmeralda - Kateřina
Kněžiková (soprano); Indian - Ondrej Mráz
(bass); First Child - Maxim Dusek (treble); Second Child - Babette
Rust (soprano) 