Kompletní operní dílo - 17 CD

This 17-CD set presents the complete operatic works of Bedřich Smetana, released on CD for the first time to mark the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Opera occupies a central place in Smetana’s work, alongside the symphonic-poem cycle Má vlast, and his nine operas, the last of them unfinished, reveal his dramatic talent and distinctive style. The collection brings together recordings made from the 1960s to the 1980s by several generations of Czech singers, chiefly associated with Prague’s National Theatre. It includes the celebrated recordings of The Bartered Bride and The Secret conducted by Zdeněk Košler, his exceptional 1983 recording of Libuše made for the reopening of the National Theatre in Prague, Jan Hus by Tichý, The Brandenburgers in Bohemia, Zdeněk Chalabala’s exemplary The Devil’s Wall and Dalibor conducted by Jaroslav Krombholc. The box contains seven separately packaged 2-CD sets and one 3-CD set, detailed information on each opera, a booklet with a comprehensive study and photographs, and a link to librettos in Czech and English. Newly digitally transferred and remastered recordings preserve the sound of the Czech Smetana tradition in high-resolution listening.