(Photo: Vincent Pontet) Certainly a hidden gem of the mainstream operatic repertoire, Leoš Janáček’s “The Cunning Little Vixen” is one of the most lovable pieces of musical theater ever composed. Its lyrical music, melancholic charm, and even lack of dialogue make this opera hard to resist. Paris Opera’s revival of the work has all the elements needed to succeed: Nicky {…}
(Photo credit: © Camilla Greenwell/Royal Ballet & Opera) Pinching pitches at an apex, Janáček’s “Jenůfa” scales extremes. The opera tells of sextoness Kostelnička Buryjovka, who takes a lethal misstep to protect her stepdaughter. Persuaded Laca will agree to wed Jenůfa if she’s childless, Kostelnička drowns newborn baby Števa. Rue accrues until Kostelnička confesses. Any other art form would attribute her {…}
(Photo credit: Pocket Opera) More than earning its cult following, San Francisco Bay’s Pocket Opera continues to enchant music-lovers of all ages and varying attention spans. Armed with the mission embraced by its founder Donald Pippin, the Pocket Opera breathes life into rare, under-appreciated, and flat out delightful operas. Sculpting them within a chamber setting—the final performance of Leoš Janáček’s {…}
Photos credit: Frances Marshall/Marshall Light Studio Lada Valešová, with her multifaceted role as a conductor, pianist, and coach, has a particular love for Janáček and Tchaikovsky. At 12 years old, an essential audition nudged Valešová towards a musical journey. Years later, she was working on operas such as “Cunning Little Vixen” and “Eugene Onegin.” Valešová has been recognized with a {…}
(Credit: Ludoviz Ludha) The Staatsoper Unter den Linden has announced that Scottish tenor Nicky Spence has withdrawn from the production of Leoš Janáček’s “The Makropulos Affair” in February 2022. The tenor took to Twitter saying “So sad not to make my debut @StaatsoperBLN as planned… I fell down the stairs at the airport en route & am now stuck in {…}
(Credits: Opera Online / Oper Leipzig official website) The Komische Oper Berlin will present a new production of Leoš Janáček‘s opera “Káťa Kabanová” in November and December 2021. The opera house has assembled a cast that includes heldentenor Magnus Vigilius as Boris Grigorjevič; bass Jens Larsen as Savël Prokofjevic Dikój; mezzo-soprano Doris Lamprecht in the role of Marfa Ignatěvna Kabanová; {…}
((c) ROH 2021) The Royal Opera House’s first new production of Leoš Janáček’s “Jenůfa” in over twenty years was one of the first casualties of the 2020 lockdown, shelved on the cusp of opening in March that year. A starry cast made it an especially hot ticket then, especially given the involvement of imaginative German director Claus Guth, and {…}
(Photo: Ali Wright) The second half of Opera Holland Park’s revamped summer offering opened this week with Leoš Janáček’s late, philosophical comedy “The Cunning Little Vixen,” conducted by Jessica Cottis and directed by Stephen Barlow. One of the strange gifts of lockdown for Londoners – those blessed with gardens anyway – was the opportunity, working from home, to experience more {…}
(Credits: Dario Acosta / © Gregor Hohenberg / Sony Classical / Angela Gheorghiu official website / Michael Cooper / Kasskara/DG / Chris Singer) The Royal Opera House Covent Garden has announced full details of its exciting 2021-22 season, which will star some of the world’s greatest performers. The Royal Opera House Live Cinema Season and digital program will be announced {…}
It is an under-appreciated coincidence that Janacek’s searing opera of bourgeois repressiveness and psychological collapse appears in the same year as fellow Moravian Sigmund Freud’s “Beyond the Pleasure Principle” and his study of “Mass Psychology” (they were, in fact, born mere miles apart). “Kat’a Kabanova” is a psychic drama of shame and self-hatred. As in Freud’s work, Janacek creates a {…}
(Credits: © McQueen / Deutsche Oper am Rhein official website / © Jean-Baptiste Millot / Jiyang Chen) Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg, France has announced its 2021-22 season. Here is the full slate. Operas Hans Abrahamsen’s “The Snow Queen” will spotlight Lauren Snouffer, Rachael Wilson, Helena Rasker, David Leigh, Michael Smallwood, Owen Willetts, Floriane Derthe, and Moritz Kallenberg. Robert {…}