The Bartered Bride he had written "The Brandenburgers in Bohemia" to a libretto by the Czech nationalist poet Karel Sabina, whom Smetana had met briefly in 1848. "The Brandenburgers", which was awarded the opera prize, was a serious historical drama, but even before its completion Smetana was noting down themes for use in a future comic opera. By this time he had heard the music of Cornelius's "Der Barbier", and was ready to try his own hand at the comic genre. For his libretto, Smetana again approached Sabina, who by 5 July 1863 had produced an untitled one-act sketch in German. Over the
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 –