from Act II of the Czech opera The Bartered Bride (Prodaná Nevesta) by Bedrich Smetana

Libretto: Karel Sabina

Role: Jenik, son of Micha by his first marriage

Voice Part: tenor

Setting: inside an inn in a Bohemian village, Bohemia

Synopsis: Jenik and the marriage broker, Kecal, have been bargaining. Kecal wants Jenik to give up any claim to his beloved, Marenka. Jenik finally agrees but only if he receives a large sum of money and under the condition that Marenka marries the elder son of Micha. Kecal thinks he has made a good deal because the elder son of Micha is presumed dead. However, he doesn't know that Jenik is really Micha's eldest son. After Kecal leaves, Jenik gloats over his clever victory, saying that anyone who could expect him to sell Marenka is a fool. To him, Marenka is too valuable to be sold for any amount of money.

from Act I of the Czech opera The Bartered Bride (Prodaná Nevesta) by Bedrich Smetana

Libretto: Karel Sabina

Role: Marenka, daughter of Krusina and Ludmilla

Voice Part: soprano

Setting: spring in a Bohemian village, Bohemia

Synopsis: Marenka and Jenik are in love but Marenka's parents have promised her to another man. Marenka has decided that she will refuse to go along with it. She notices, however, that Jenik seems uneasy. Suspecting that there might be something he is hiding from her, she tells him that she would be heart-broken if she ever learned of another woman in his life. She knows little of his past and wonders if his reluctance to talk about his life might mean that he has already left one sweetheart.

from Act III of the Czech opera The Bartered Bride (Prodaná Nevesta) by Bedrich Smetana

Libretto: Karel Sabina

Role: Marenka, daughter of Krusina and Ludmilla

Voice Part: soprano

Setting: spring in a Bohemian village, Bohemia

Synopsis: Marenka believes that her love, Jenik, has betrayed her by selling the rights to marry her to another person. As it turns out, Jenik has actually sold the rights to marry Marenka to himself in order to legalize their relationship. However, he neglects to tell Marenka this fact and she feels completely betrayed. She still hasn't heard about the betrothal from Jenik himself so she hasn't completely given up on him. However, she still feels that her dream of living happily ever after has been completely crushed.

from Act II of the Czech opera The Bartered Bride (Prodaná Nevesta) by Bedrich Smetana

Libretto: Karel Sabina

Role: Vasek, son of Micha and Hata

Voice Part: tenor

Setting: inside an inn in a Bohemian village, Bohemia

Synopsis: Vasek enters the inn when it is empty. He mentions, shyly and stuttering, that his mother has told him firmly to win the wife that she has picked out for him. Unbeknownst to him, the woman picked out to be his wife is Marenka, the beloved of Jenik who is Vasek's brother.

from Act III of the Czech opera The Bartered Bride (Prodaná Nevesta) by Bedrich Smetana

Libretto: Karel Sabina

Role: Vasek, son of Micha and Hata

Voice Part: tenor

Setting: spring in a Bohemian village, Bohemia

Synopsis: Vasek is upset because he cannot find the wonderful girl that he met earlier. She advised him against marrying Marenka, the wife that had been chosen for him, telling him that there is another girl that would be better for him. However, Vasek finds that he is obsessed with the unknown girl to the point where he cannot think of anything else. He does not know that the girl he talked to was actually Marenka.