(Photo: Marek Olbrzymek) Janacek’s unorthodox song cycle, “The Diary of One who Disappeared” is a theatrical work, to the extent that it is nowadays often presented as a staged, costumed drama, sometimes with an orchestrated score. It even allows for a variety of interpretations such as Ivo von Hove’s recent production which saw the protagonist cast as a photographer looking {…}
My final day at this year’s Janacek Festival ended with a performance of its awarding-winning production of “Jenufa,” starring Karita Mattila as the Kostelnička, Pavla Vykopalova as Jenufa, Peter Berger as Laca and Richard Samek as Števa, in what was a well sung presentation. The conductor opted for a light reading which brought out the lyricism and folk melodies of {…}
Yesterday evening I had just finished writing Day 3 of the Festival Diary when I bumped into the composer Krystof Maratka, whom I had earlier seen performing his piece “Prophecy” for piano and folk instruments, which consisted of bone flutes, whistles, stones and other weird and wonderful instruments. We had an interesting chat in which he explained his fascination with {…}
This morning I headed off to Brno’s Romany Museum, the only one dedicated to the Roma people, their history, and their culture in Europe. Situated in a fairly poor area of the city in which the Roma people had been forcibly settled I was greeted by a most enthusiastic and knowledgable guide who was happy to give me a personal {…}
I awoke this morning to some bad news: the production of “The Cunning Little Vixen” scheduled for Friday had been cancelled, the cast having succumbed to the virus. Livia Obručník Vénosová, the soprano cast as the Vixen, had painted a vivid picture of an original production, one which focused on the relationship between the characters and their emotions, and eschewed {…}
Finally, I have arrived in Brno for the Janacek Festival, 24 hours later than scheduled thanks to a strike by Italian rail staff, which following a series of cancellations and delays left me stranded and seeking a hotel room in Vienna at half-past midnight. Brno is a small picturesque Czech city set close to the Austrian border which each year {…}
The Janáček Brno Festival has announced its 2020 edition and confirmed it will begin as planned. For the purposes of this article, we have only focused on the vocal performances. Robert Carsen directs Leoš Janáček’s “Destiny” with a cast that includes Alžběta Poláčková and Szilvia Rálik. Marko Ivanović conducts the opening night opera. “Destiny,” created especially for the Janáček Opera, {…}