Vilém Blodek made up of a handful of closed numbers: five solos, two duets, one quartet, an overture and an intermezzo, and three brief ensembles for chorus and soloists. It was the first Czech comic opera to replace spoken dialogue with recitative. Blodek’s opera is often considered to be one of the most ‘Czech’ operas after those of Smetana – it was written shortly after the première of The Bartered Bride. Blodek’s next opera, "Zítek", again to a Sabina libretto (a historical comedy set in the 14th century), was a more ambitious work both in its musical vocabulary and in its operatic
Otakar Mařák in "The Bartered Bride", "Dalibor", Ladislav Podhajský in "The Two Widows", Lucas in "The Kiss" as well as in traditional world repertory which saw Mařák play Don Ottavio in "Don Giovanni", Massenet's "Werther", Cavaradossi in "Tosca" and Alfred Germont in "La Traviata". He often took on the role of Don José in Bizet's "Carmen". He died on 2 July 1939 in Prague. Together with Emmy Destinn and Karel Burian, Mařák completed the trio of well-known early 20th century Czech singers. "This article is based on a in the Czech Wikipedia" Otakar Mařák Otakar Mařák (5 January 1872 Esztergom, Hungary –