Bedřich Smetana

Smetana performed publicly at six and studied under Josef Proksch in Prague, writing his first nationalistic pieces during the 1848 uprising before leaving for Sweden when his career stalled. He spent years in Gothenburg teaching and conducting, then returned to Prague in the early 1860s when the political climate eased. His first two operas premiered in 1866 at the new Provisional Theatre - The Brandenburgers in Bohemia and The Bartered Bride, the latter an instant success - and he became the theatre's principal conductor that same year. Factions attacked him for aligning with Liszt and Wagner, a controversy that dragged on until deafness forced his resignation in 1874. Freed from the theatre, he composed steadily through total silence, completing Má vlast and securing his place as a national icon before a mental collapse in early 1884 led to his death in an asylum at sixty.