Czech Republic

Bedřich Smetana, regarded in his homeland as the father of Czech music, wrote the opera The Bartered Bride and the symphonic cycle Má vlast; Antonín Dvořák followed his nationalist example, and the Slavonic Dances published by Simrock carried his name abroad. The National Theatre in Prague maintains opera, ballet and drama ensembles, which also perform in the State Opera and the Estates Theatre. The Czech Philharmonic plays at the Rudolfinum. Since 1952 the Prague Spring festival, founded in 1946, has opened on 12 May with Má vlast.