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
The Bartered Bride Theatre company in Vienna, as part of the Vienna Music and Theatre Exhibition of 1892, where its favourable reception was the beginning of its worldwide popularity among opera audiences. Since the Czech language was not widely spoken, international performances tended to be in German. The United States premiere took place at the Haymarket Theatre, Chicago, on 20 August 1893. The opera was introduced to the Hamburg State Opera in 1894 by Gustav Mahler, then serving as its director; a year later a German company brought a production to the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London. In 1897, after his appointment