(Act 1)
Comic opera by Frederic Smetana. Libretto by Karl Sabina. English version by Rosa Newmarch. Produced by Stanford Robinson and Mark H. Lubbock
BBC Theatre Chorus. BBC Theatre Orchestra, conductor, Stanford Robinson
Scene : A Bohemian village on the afternoon and evening of the Patron
Saint's Day. The action takes place during the first half of the nineteenth century
Marenka, the pretty daughter of a peasant couple, is promised in marriage to Vasek (son of Micha, a wealthy farmer) whom she has never seen. She objects to the suit because she is already in love with Jenik, whose doubtful parentage and position make him a less desirable match.
The marriage-broker Kecal intrigues on her parents' behalf to bring off the union between Marenka and the rich but stupid Vasek. As these two have never met, Marenka easily contrives to conceal her identity and put Vasek off the track.
But meanwhile the marriage-broker persuades Jenik to relinquish his chance of obtaining Marenka by accepting a bribe to give her up--on condition that her bridgegroom shall be Micha's sen. The usual complications follow, but in the last act Micha recognises' in Jenik his long-lost elder son, and as the marriage-contract only calls for Marenka to marry ' the son of Micha ', she is now free to choose between Jenik and Vasek, which she does to everybody's satisfaction.