Out of Italian Gaetano Donizetti or Czech Bedřich Smetana, which opera composer lived and worked earlier?
Bedřich Smetana Bedřich Smetana (] ; 2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884) was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style which became closely identified with his country's aspirations to independent statehood. He is thus widely regarded in his homeland as the father of Czech music. Internationally he is best known for his opera "The Bartered Bride" and for the symphonic cycle "Má vlast" ("My Homeland"), which portrays the history, legends and landscape of the composer's native land.
Khovanshchina Khovanshchina (Russian: Хованщина , "Hovánščina", sometimes rendered The Khovansky Affair; since the ending -ščina is pejorative) is an opera (subtitled a 'national music drama') in five acts by Modest Mussorgsky. The work was written between 1872 and 1880 in St. Petersburg, Russia. The composer wrote the libretto based on historical sources. The opera was unfinished and unperformed when the composer died in 1881.