Bedřich Smetana's National-Historical Operas as Media for the Expression of Political Attitudes

Petra Babić

Musicologica Olomucensia X:X | DOI: 10.5507/mo.2026.001  

The article explores how Bedřich Smetana’s national-historical operas functioned as media for transmitting of political messages in 19th-century Bohemia. The study examines The Brandenburgers in Bohemia and Libuše and aims to demonstrate how Smetana and his librettists intentionally embedded political discourse that drew on national history, myth, and current events. In The Brandenburgers in Bohemia, historical trauma associated with the ­13th-century Brandenburg occupation provided a framework to address themes of oppression, national unity, and resistance, which in turn resonated with ­19th-century experiences of national...

Smetana's reception in France between 1850 and 1939

Matthieu Cailliez

Musicologica Olomucensia X:X | DOI: 10.5507/mo.2026.002  

Documented, among other sources, by the French music press and French music dictionaries, the slow and belated reception of Smetana’s operas in France is out of step with his reception in the rest of Europe. Sixty-two years after its premiere, The Bartered Bride was the only opera by the composer and the only Czech opera performed in France before the Second World War, the Paris premiere of La Fiancée vendue taking place in 1928 at the Opéra-Comique. Three of Smetana’s other operas were performed in France more than a century after their premiere. As a result, only four of Smetana’s eight operas and a single Dvořák’s...

Nevesta do koča aj do voza. Interpretačná tradícia Predanej nevesty na slovenských operných scénach

A Timeless Bride. The Performance Tradition of The Bartered Bride on Slovak Opera Stages

Michaela Mojžišová

Musicologica Olomucensia X:X | DOI: 10.5507/mo.2026.003  

Since the birth of the Slovak professional theatre, dating from the establishment of the Slovak National Theatre (1920), Smetana’s The Bartered Bride has been statistically the most performed opera title in Slovakia. It was not absent from any of the historical periods or political systems of the turbulent 20th century; it was not lost from the programme even after the break-up of the Czechoslovak Republic and the establishment of the Slovak State in 1939 (later the Slovak Republic), and it retained its position as a repertoire staple even after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia and the establishment of the independent Slovak Republic...

Bedřich Smetana – velryba v českém rybníce: proměny vztahu české společnosti k Bedřichu Smetanovi

Bedřich Smetana – A Whale in a Czech Pond: Transformations in Czech Society’s Relationship with Bedřich Smetana

Olga Mojžíšová

Musicologica Olomucensia X:X | DOI: 10.5507/mo.2026.004  

This metaphor, coined by August Wilhelm Ambros in 1868, aptly captures Smetana’s exceptional stature, which was already keenly recognised by his contemporaries. His uniqueness lay not only in the outstanding quality of his compositions but also in the breadth of his musical and public activities, through which he attracted considerable attention, provoked divergent responses, and significantly stirred the waters of domestic musical life. He became its most prominent figure and was subsequently acknowledged as the founding creator of Czech national music. Yet some of his works and artistic ambitions were not fully understood and encountered the...

The Operas of Smetana and Other Czech Composers on the Stage of the Croatian National Theatre (1870–1902) and their Importance in the Formation of the National and Slavic Repertoire

Vjera Katalinić

Musicologica Olomucensia X:X | DOI: 10.5507/mo.2026.007  

In 1870, the Zagreb National Theatre was able to establish its Opera Department. Previously, only itinerant companies performed these popular works, mostly in Italian or German. Thus, Ivan Zajc (1832–1914), who had been brought from Vienna to serve as the new opera director, had to develop not only the ensemble but also to establish the standard operatic repertoire in Croatian, as well as to compose national operas himself. Even though he was an admirer of Verdi (Zajc studied composition in Milan) and favoured the Italian operatic repertoire, he was aware that Slavic operas of quality were important for his programmatic aims. Already in 1873,...

Bedřich Smetana and Stanisław Moniuszko as the Authors of National Operas in the Eyes of the Witnesses of the First Polish Performances of The Bartered Bride and Dalibor

Magdalena Dziadek

Musicologica Olomucensia X:X | DOI: 10.5507/mo.2026.008  

The premieres of The Bartered Bride and Dalibor in Warsaw and Lviv, which took place between 1895 and 1902, became an opportunity for Polish music critics to compare these works with Stanisław Moniuszko’s operas, which in Poland played a similar role to Smetana’s operas in the Czechia, representing the national opera on the local and international forum. These comparisons were very critical of Moniuszko, which resulted from the fact that in the relevant period there was a coming to terms with the achievements of the previous decades, characterized by the decline of the national economy and culture. In the part of this discussion...