A comic opera by Frederic Smetana
Libretto by Karl Sabina English version by Rosa Newmarch
The presentation written and spoken by Wilfrid Rooke Ley
Production by Stanford Robinson , Gordon McConnel , and Rex Haworth
The BBC Chorus (Section C)
The BBC Theatre Orchestra
Leader, Tate Gilder
Conductor, Stanford Robinson
The scene of The Bartered Bride is laid in 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. The outline of the story is as follows: Marenka, the pretty daughter of a peasant couple, is promised in marriage to Vashek (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 Ketsal intrigues on her parents' behalf to bring off the union between Marenka and the rich but stupid Vashek. As these two have never met, Marenka easily contrives to conceal her identity and put Vashek 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 bridegroom shall be Micha's son. 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 Vashek, which she does to everybody's satisfaction.
The Bartered Bride will be broadcast again next week on Tuesday evening, February 22, in the Regional programme.