(Photo: Jakob Jira)

Alongside the headline operas, the Janáček Brno Festival stages a number of student and alternative projects. One of the works on offer this year was a piece entitled “The Other City,” performed by Ensemble Opera Diversa, written by Czech composer and librettist, Ondřej Kyas, based on a 1993 novel of the same name by Michal Ajvaz.

A man known only as A walks into a secondhand bookshop in Prague, where he finds a mysterious tome. Intrigued, he sets out to discover its hidden secrets and is drawn into a parallel reality in which there exists an ‘other city,’ one that he is determined to find. He wanders the streets of Prague that he both recognizes and yet does not recognize, populated by strange characters and talking beasts. Not all are friendly; some even attempt to kill him, but A is not put off and ploughs on regardlessly. He must find the ‘other city.’

It is a drama that plays with the idea of reality and people’s desire to escape it and find a new one. This is what A is attempting, but it is a path strewn with dangers, and the more he engages with this new reality in search of the ‘other city,’ the more he loses his grip on the old reality. We are witnesses to A’s journey in which he fights a shark, is attacked for not having a weasel, talks to a bird called Felix with whom he has a discussion about the significance of the national epic, and visits a palace in the jungle, among many other weird and wonderful happenings.

Then again, maybe it is just a simple, entertaining fantasy. Either way, it all ends up with A back in the Prague he knew well, specifically in the underground toilet of the Slavia Café.

The opera is presented as a reflective piece. A has kept a diary of his wanderings, and it is through his writings that we learn about his journey in search of the ‘other city.’

The performance took place in a small theatre named ‘The Theatre on Orlí Street’ that seats around 150 people, depending on the size given over to the stage, which in this case was a fairly large space with room for an orchestra of about 25 to 30 musicians, two large video screens, a raised seated area for the eight soloists, and a substantial area for the singers to act out their roles.

A Low Budget Yet Successful Staging

Although the work was given a semi-staged performance, it could easily have been defined as fully staged; the only thing it lacked was scenery, which proved unnecessary as the black space, with one or two simple props, imaginative video projections, along with Anna Laborová’s sensitive lighting, proved more than sufficient to provoke the imagination into conjuring up A’s fantastical journey. In fact, any attempt to reproduce its visual aspects would have been more likely to dull the affect; it certainly would have placed restrictions on the imagination, which is essential for forming a meaningful appreciation of the work.

The director, Katerina Krivánková, and set and costume designer, Sylva Marková, did a fine job in ensuring the audience could follow the narrative, despite its sharp shifts, surreal meanderings and dreamlike dialogue.

There were two distinct areas on the stage. Character A was seated at his desk on one side, reading over his diary and reflecting on his journey while projecting images of the pages of the book and items on his desk onto the video screen using a small camera. The rest of the cast were seated on the other side on the raised area, including a slightly younger A, who played out the drama on the performance floor in the front middle part of the stage. All the characters were dressed in black apart from A.

Krivánková successfully injected each scene with energy and a well-focused momentum that carried the narrative forward, in which each character was clearly drawn. Only the most basic of props were employed, usually no more than a couple of chairs and a table, which gave the sets a minimalist appearance. Often, twisting and turning geometric shapes, designed by Tomáš Hruza, would appear on the video as they sung.

Fine Performances From a Committed Cast

Although the cast was relatively inexperienced, all the singers produced convincing performances, with tenor Michael Robotka, in particular, impressing in the roles of the Librarian, the Parrot Breeder, the Man with a newspaper and a Man in the pub. It was not just his technical competence but his ability to engage with his characters that caught the eye. As the Man with the newspaper, he skillfully moulded his voice to reveal his anxieties at having his daughter kidnapped. He also proved to be an excellent storyteller, able to draw in the audience with his sensitively fashioned monologue, in which he displayed a nuance and variety in his modes of expression.

Each of the three female singers also produced notable performances. Soprano Aneta Podracká Bendová’s singing voice has a captivating beauty, which she used sensitively to shape attractive phrases to portray the parts of a Woman on the boat, a Mysterious Girl and Fate.

Soprano Jana Vondrů produced a powerful reading of Alweyra, Klára and Fate, which allowed her to show off her ability to present different characters. Her singing has an appealing lyricism with a strong, secure upper register.

Mezzo-soprano Alžběta Symerská successfully produced three clearly defined characterizations as the Waiter’s Wife, Felix the bird and Fate, in which she used her colorful palette and vocal expressivity to bring emotional depth to her characters.

As the three Fates, the three combined beautifully for one of the more memorable pieces of the work in a short but beautiful trio.

Bass Tomáš Chloupek gave expressively strong readings as the Head Waiter, the Historian, the Man on the Boat, and the Man at the pub. His singing was confident, often forceful and secure. One negative impression that stood out, however, was an inability to moderate the dynamics; he has an impressive, resonant voice but seemed determined to sing forte no matter the circumstance. As a Man on the Boat, his duet with the Woman on the Boat was beautifully delivered and displayed a sympathetic moulding of the vocal line; if he could have quietened the voice even slightly, it would have been almost perfect.

Bass Aleš Janiga, in the role of A, had a much smaller role than expected, with few opportunities to sing any of the standout pieces; nor was there much variation in what was required of him; he was always earnest, determined and focused but was for the most part a passive observer to the characters around him. His singing was firm, secure and well presented.

Bass Pavel Slivka was cast in the roles of the Maledict, the Merchant, the Barman and the Guardian of the Temple and displayed a notable degree of vocal versatility in the way he defined the roles through his voice. As the Merchant, his singing was clear and lyrical, while as the Maledict, he produced a more uneasy, mysterious sound.

Bass Libor Skokan gave solid performances in the roles of the Priest, the Waiter and as a pub regular, in which he showed off his pleasing timbre and expressive agility.

Lukáš Rieger gave a clear and earnest reading in the spoken role of A at his desk.

The Ensemble Opera Diversa, under the musical direction of Gabriela Tardonová, produced a very dramatic sound, moulding the at times intricate music to bring out its unsettled, energetic and often anxious qualities. It moved seamlessly between passages in which it sat at the forefront of the performance, highlighting significant moments and driving the drama forward, and passages in which it was content to sit in the background, supporting the singers and creating the necessary atmosphere.

Overall, it proved to be a worthwhile production. Musically it was excellent, and the imaginative, low-cost staging carried the drama convincingly, while providing the necessary space for the audience’s imagination to engage productively with the work.