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
The Bartered Bride Covent Garden. This production in English was directed by Francesca Zambello and conducted by Bernard Haitink; it was criticised both for its stark settings and for ruining the act 2 entrance of Vašek. It was nevertheless twice revived by the ROH – in 2001 and 2006, under Charles Mackerras. A New York Metropolitan staging was in 1996 under James Levine, a revival of John Dexter's 1978 production with stage designs by Josef Svoboda. In 2005 "The Bartered Bride" returned to New York, at the Juilliard School theatre, in a new production by Eve Shapiro, conducted by Mark Stringer. In its