The Bartered Bride is a comic opera in three acts by the Czech composer
Bedřich Smetana, first performed at the Provisional Theatre, Prague, on
30 May 1866. Set in a country village with realistic characters, it
tells the story of how true love prevails over the combined efforts of
ambitious parents and a scheming marriage broker. Originally presented
in a two-act format with spoken dialogue, the opera was not immediately
successful, but it gained rapid popularity after numerous revisions.
Smetana's musical treatment made considerable use of traditional
Bohemian dance forms such as the polka and furiant, creating music which
was accurately folk-like, and considered to be quintessentially Czech in
spirit. After a performance in Vienna in 1892 the opera achieved
international recognition. It reached Chicago in 1893, London in 1895
and New York in 1909, becoming the first, and for many years the only,
Czech opera in the general repertory. Many of these early international
performances were in German, under the title Die verkaufte Braut, and
the German-language version continues to be played and recorded.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bartered_Bride>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1536:
Jane Seymour, a former lady-in-waiting, became Queen of England
by marrying King Henry VIII.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Seymour>
1854:
The Kansas–Nebraska Act became law, establishing the US
territories of Nebraska and Kansas, repealing the 1820 Missouri
Compromise, and allowing settlers in those territories to determine if
they would permit slavery within their boundaries.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas%E2%80%93Nebraska_Act>
1913:
The Treaty of London was signed to deal with territorial
adjustments arising out of the conclusion of the First Balkan War,
declaring, among other things, an independent Albania.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_London_(1913)>
1963:
Buddhist crisis: A protest against pro-Catholic discrimination
was held outside South Vietnam's National Assembly, the first open
demonstration against President Ngô Đình Diệm.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_crisis>
1998:
A 6.9 Mw earthquake struck northern Afghanistan, killing at
least 4,000 people, destroying more than 30 villages, and leaving 45,000
people homeless in the Afghan provinces of Takhar and Badakhshan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_1998_Afghanistan_earthquake>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
isinglass:
1. A form of gelatine obtained from the air bladder of the sturgeon and
certain other fish, used as an adhesive and as a clarifying agent for
wine and beer.
2. A thin, transparent sheet of mica (probably from its similarity to true
isinglass).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/isinglass>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The liberty of every individual is only the reflection of his own
humanity, or his human right through the conscience of all free men, his
brothers and his equals. I can feel free only in the presence of and in
relationship with other men. In the presence of an inferior species of
animal I am neither free nor a man, because this animal is incapable of
conceiving and consequently recognizing my humanity. I am not myself
free or human until or unless I recognize the freedom and humanity of
all my fellowmen.
Only in respecting their human character do I
respect my own.
--Mikhail Bakunin
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mikhail_Bakunin>