The Secret is Bedřich Smetana’s seventh, and penultimate, opera. It is also the second fruit of the composer’s collaboration with the librettist Eliška Krásnohorská. Completed in May1878, the piece received its premiere the on 18 September at the New Czech Theatre in Prague. The National Theatre first staged the opera on 12 May 1885, on the first anniversary of Smetana’s death. Yet it only attained wide popularity after the post of the opera company’s director had been assumed by the conductor Karel Kovařovic, who was fully aware of the qualities of the mature Smetana work. Krásnohorská furnished Smetana with an exquisite libretto, whose themes may bring to mind William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet or the Czech author Ladislav Stroupežnický’s play Our Uppish and Defiant Fellows, dating from a later time.

The Secret

National Theatre Prague

With its original version premiered in Paris in 1841, Giselle is one of the major staples of the ballet repertoire and part of the global cultural legacy. The widely popular piece tells the story of tragic love, which even endures betrayal and prevails over death.

Barbora Maleninská

Events

Upcoming events

Nov 6 - Dec 28, 2026

The Secret · Národní divadlo

3 - 25 Jun, 2027

Giselle · Národní divadlo

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