I was back in Prague, Czch Republic, last year. I lived for almost three years in Prague many, many years ago, so it’s always a pleasure to get back.

When I lived there, I often liked to visit Prague’s three opera houses to enjoy the performances. One of Prague’s opera houses, the Narodni divadlo (National Theatre) is largely dedicated to Czech operas.

I have to admit, when I moved to Prague, I was less familair with Czech operas, but in my time there, I frequently went to see the famous Czech operas by Leóš Janáček, Bedřich Smetana and Antonín Dvořák and became more familiar with their work.

Bedřich Smetana (1824-1888) is considered the father of Czech opera. In fact, his symphony  Má vlast (My Fatherland) is today the Czech national anthem. His 1866 opera Prodaná nevěsta (The Bartered Bride) is his most famous. The opera was first performed in 1866, but was not very successful. It was extensively revised into the version we know today and relaunched in 1870, and became a worldwide success.

The version we saw at Narodno divadlo was a bit too modern for my taste – and I had seen wonderful previous versions with period costumes that are so perfect for the dance performances – but the performance was still spectacular.

I loved being back at the theatre, too. The theatre was constructed between 1868 and 1881. It’s a beautiful building along the Vltava River. – and it’s ornate roof is easily visible from all over the city. Then ceiling frescoes had recently been restored, and it was even more beautiful than I recalled during my frequent visits years ago.

An absolutely beautiful evening enjoying Czech opera during my visit to Prague – already look forward to next time.

I highly recommend that you get opera tickets to the National Theatre, the State Opera or the Estates Theatre, on your next visit to Prague. I’ll see you there!