(Photo: František Renzaj) The Devil’s Wall is a large granite outcrop that overlooks the Vltava River in southern Bohemia. Below its jagged rock faces, a boulder field flows down the steep-sided valley to the river. It is a magical and mysterious place which today is part of a national park. Unsurprisingly, it is also a place of myth and legend. {…}
(Photo: Národní divadlo Brno) Fairytales often speak directly to our unconscious, revealing drives and truths that are not always apparent to our conscious selves. It is therefore not surprising that many tales are replicated across countries and cultures, even if the characters and details vary. The Slavic fable of Rusalka, for example, has counterparts with the French Melusine, Germanic Nixie {…}
(Photo: Marek Olbrzymek) Would any opera house be bold enough to present a work about the horrors of life in a gulag in which the guilty and innocent are thrown together to be abused, debased and left to die? Undoubtedly, the answer is yes! What if it were to be presented in a Christian context, in which Christ walks among {…}
(Photo: Marek Olbrzymek) Superficially “Jenůfa” is a tale of village life, full of folk traditions and colorful costumes, of a close intimate community in which all participate in each other’s daily lives and activities. Sure bad things happen, as they do everywhere, people fall out, they fight and argue and occasionally even murder, but the underlying harmony and all round {…}
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 {…}