Bluebeard's Castle
Béla Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle is his most famous opera work. Initially entered into a Hungarian opera writing competition in 1911, it failed to gain popularity with the Hungarian music public. It is suggested that this is because its musical qualities were significantly different from the Italian and German opera that was at the center of Hungarian tastes, at the time. Nevertheless, Bluebeard's Castle eventually had its world premiere with the Hungarian State Opera Company in 1918, only to have the work banned in 1919 until the late 1930s, because of the forced exile of librettist Béla Balázs.