About the work
Comic opera in three acts by Bohuslav Martinů after Carlo Goldoni's comedy "La locandiera" (1753); Martinů also wrote the Italian libretto himself in 1953/54. It premiered on 17 May 1959 at the Smetana Theatre of the Prague National Theatre under Václav Kašlík, weeks before the composer's death.
Plot
Innkeeper Mirandolina lets herself be courted by her noble guests, chiefly the rival suitors Forlimpopoli and Albafiorita, while setting out in particular to conquer the woman-hating Ripafratta. In the end she marries her loyal servant Fabrizio after putting his devotion to the test.
Cultural significance
Martinů was only the second composer to set Goldoni's play, after Antonio Salieri's "La locandiera" (1773); its ironic, neoclassical echoes of madrigal, vaudeville and opera buffa are seen as a mature product of his late style. The opera remained in the Prague National Theatre's repertoire until 1963.