The Bartered Bride dedication of the latter's Opus 1: "Six Characteristic Pieces for Piano" in 1848, and had encouraged the younger composer's career since then. In September 1857 Smetana visited Liszt in Weimar, where he met Peter Cornelius, a follower of Liszt's who was working on a comic opera, "Der Barbier von Bagdad". Their discussions centred on the need to create a modern style of comic opera, as a counterbalance to Wagner's new form of music drama. A comment was made by the Viennese conductor Johann von Herbeck to the effect that Czechs were incapable of making music of their own, a remark
Karel Svoboda (composer) Karel Svoboda (composer) Karel Svoboda (19 December 1938 – 28 January 2007) was a Czech composer of popular music. He wrote music for many TV series in the 1970s. Karel Svoboda was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia (now in the Czech Republic) and began his career as a pop composer after abandoning medicine in his third year of university. He became a member of the rock band "Mefisto" in 1963 where he played piano. Later, he composed music for the "Laterna Magica" theatre in Prague and for many Czech singers. In 1969 he wrote "Lady Carneval" for Karel Gott, a major