whether or not your experiences with opera had been limited to Puccini, Verdi, or Mozart, or you are a Wagner lover (or hater), this one is not to be missed. Smetana's music was considered to be Wagnerian; however, there is nothing to worry about, there is not a trace of Wagnerian in this opera. And surprisingly, there is not a single Czech folksong included in the score. Though, the feeling of Czech folk music in the air is evident.
The opera itself is very pleasant to watch and listen. The cast, the presentation, the setting, the quality of the disc, are totally first rate. In general, the singing and acting of the cast members are superb. If you are a fan of Lucia Popp, you will not be disappointed. If you are not a fan of her, you will become one (after watching this). Watch (not just listen) her in the entire Act 3, I bet you have never seen anything like that (in opera) before. Just a little draw back on the part of Siegfried Jerusalem, though he sang through the entire opera smoothly; however, the second act aria was horrible. I wish he could sing like Peter Dvorsky (in another Bride' DVD, Suppaphon SU 7011-9) or Fritz Wundelich (in CD, EMI CDMB 64002 or the recent re-release EMI 0946 3 81872). There was some problem in his acting too. As V. Stasov pointed out in his review, this guy (Jerusalem) kept his hands in his pockets the whole time. Surely it is annoying. The best-case scenario would be that he just follows the stage director's orders. It is hard to imagine who would let him to do that for the whole 2+ hours? Just too bad it happened. Despite this, this video still deserve a 5-star rating, no doubt.
Finally, my recommendation would be to acquire all three versions that I mentioned here. That is: 2 videos (this one, and the one from Suppaphon with Gabriela Benackava) and the EMI CD (with Pilar Lonrengar and Fritz Wundelich). You will not regret it.
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Smetana - The Bartered Bride dvd movie.