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 and numerous others, including, most famously, Hans Christian Andersen’s ‘The Little Mermaid.” Although Rusalka is a simple story of a water nymph who relinquishes the power of speech so that she can become human to be with a prince with whom she has fallen in love, her motivations lie deep within the unconscious, taking in sexual awakening, resentment and a desire to return to an innocent state, and it was these aspects of the narrative that the director, David Radok, wished to explore.

A Journey Into the Unconscious

Although it is not a unique nor a particularly profound reading, Radok’s presentation, for which he also designed the scenery, was hugely successful. Not only did he capture the full dramatic and emotional dimensions of the work, but his ability to convey the drama within the context of Rusalka’s unconscious motivations was expertly rendered and allowed the audience to fully engage with his interpretation.

Act one opened to a stage that blended a large room in a house with windows and doors in a watery blue-grey colour with wooden walkways and reeds as would be found in a marshy area, and that stretched from inside the room to the outside world. This was Rusalka’s world; it was secure and safe, in which the walls represented the borders between the known and unknown, between innocence and knowledge. Rusalka, like many a teenager, was desperate to open the doors, to leave the secure and safe world behind, and to explore what else exists; the prince provided the impetus that awakened her sexual desires and thus set her on the path. Unfortunately, that door opens in only one direction; innocence is not something that can ever be regained.

Act two takes her into a world of luxury and frivolity, of betrayal and lust. It is a complex world of suffering, illusion and disappointment. Radok’s staging was brilliantly conceived to create the impression of wealth through chandeliers and the façade of a mansion and an outdoor area dedicated to dancing. He also ensured that Rusalka’s disillusionment was clearly portrayed through her detached meanderings between the dancers and attempts to find a way out through the dense undergrowth that surrounded the dancing area.

Act three finds her back in her original room, but everything has changed. The roof is leaking, and the plants are dying; everything looks to be in a state of decay. No longer human, but neither a nymph, she allows her resentment for the outside world to grow and retreats into her watery world, shuts the doors, and closes the shutters on the windows, but it is not innocence that she finds, only isolation.

It was a reading that fitted sympathetically with the surface fairytale narrative, with each complementing the other to provide a layered and satisfying staging. Radok also ensured that the visual presentation was sensitively developed to draw out the dramatic significance of the events and to manage the tensions. The costume designer, Zuzana Ježková, created a series of costumes that set the characters in the Victorian period, detailed to reflect the characters’ natures. The Water Goblin appeared slimy and unkempt in old blue and grey coloured garments, while the three wood sprites were in greeny blue, light shifts. Jezibaba’s blue and grey costume gave her the appearance of a matron or nanny figure. All appeared as if water was their natural habitat. The Prince and Princess, on the other hand, definitely came from the civilized human world and were dressed as wealthy Victorians of high status. It was the costumes of the chorus for the ballroom scene that really stood out. They were all attired in black with top hats, including the women, which gave them a sinister appearance; they were certainly not benign, nor did they act in a manner sympathetic towards Rusalka. The two worlds, the human and nonhuman, were visually clearly divided. Rusalka’s changing costumes reflected her movement between the two worlds but always in a way that ensured she appeared different from those around her.

Ivanović Oversees a Musically Engaging Performance

It was also a reading that complemented the score perfectly, which the conductor Marko Ivanović sensitively brought to life with the Janáček Opera of the National Theatre Brno. The pace and dynamic contrasts were carefully judged to support the onstage drama, if on occasions slightly understated, while the dance episodes were lively and graceful. It was also a reading that caught the beauty of the score.

Soprano Jana Šrejma Kačírková produced an emotionally compelling performance in the role of Rusalka. As the young and innocent water nymph, she was headstrong, rebellious, and yearning for love that she convincingly captured with a vocally expressive presentation, which she convincingly transformed into an insecure, bewildered and downtrodden young woman, before finally returning to the watery depths, hollowed out by her experience with humans.

Kačírková possesses a secure, resonant voice, which she uses with considerable skill to present emotional states, in which her pleading with her father and then with Jezibaba were particularly well developed as she coated her voice with longing and desire overlaid with an insistent determination to get her own way. There is also a pleasing energy in the voice so that even when singing in a more subdued manner, you could sense a restless spirit ready to explode at any minute. Her ability to move the voice freely enabled her to capture Rusalka’s disoriented state in acts two and three as she moved her voice flexibly across the range, with neatly placed accents and dynamic contrasts that expertly caught her pain and grief. It was, therefore, slightly disappointing that her rendition of the showpiece aria, “Song of the Moon,” did not really take flight; it was pleasant enough, and she allowed her emotions to strengthen as the aria progressed, but overall, it was too understated to convince.

Tenor Peter Berger made an excellent impression as the Prince, whom he played as a weak-willed and frivolous character, totally at the mercy of his fast-changing passions. Even as an old man, when he returns to Rusalka, full of remorse, to ask her forgiveness, he readily accepts her kiss that he knows will kill him. It appeared as the easy way out rather than an expression of deep love, despite his passionate pleading. Vocally, it was a role that seemed to suit him almost perfectly. He possesses a voice with a passionate, sweet-sounding tone that moves securely and with agility across the range, allowing for a lyrically strong performance, which he delivered with confidence and emotional force.

Vodnik, the water goblin, was given an engaging yet not wholly sympathetic reading by bass Jan Štáva. He was suitably anxious about and supportive of his daughter Rusalka but was abusive and sexually aggressive towards the wood spirits. His singing had a determined, even fierce, quality that gave him an imposing demeanour. Although certainly not lacking in beauty, his crafting of the vocal line was focused on promoting the meaning of the text, which he furnished with emotional honesty.

Soprano Eliška Gattringerová was thoroughly dislikable as the Foreign Princess. She was cynical, vicious and served only her own interests. Her voice had a harsh, strident edge, which she used forcefully and energetically to assert her will over both the Prince and Rusalka, whom she treated as an inferior.

Mezzo-soprano Václava Krejčí portrayed the witch, Jezibaba, as hard, unforgiving and cold, and treated Rusalka with total contempt. She possesses an agile, secure voice over which she exhibits excellent control, which she used to create a compelling vocal portrayal that captured her vicious and opportunistic nature. Her forceful response to Rusalka’s pleading in Act three was expertly rendered as she spat out her lines full of bile, which also showed off its nuanced colouring.

No attempt was made by Radok to hide the fact that the three wood spirits were based on Wagner’s Rheinmaidens; if anything, it appeared he wished to draw attention to the fact. With their greeny-blue costumes that evoked connections with the watery depths and their playfully cruel taunting of the Water Goblin, one could so easily have mistaken it for the opening scene of “Das Rheingold.” Played by soprano Doubravka Novotná, and contraltos Ivana Pavlu and Monika Jägerová, they acted their parts as a group, yet each managed to maintain an individual identity.

Baritone Tadeáš Hoza gave a solid performance as the Hunter.

The choir of the Janáček Opera of the National Theatre, under the direction of Pavel Koñárek, produced an energetic and beautifully sung performance, played out the dance routines wonderfully, and acted out their Act two roles convincingly to create an oppressive, even threatening presence.

Overall, it was a high-quality presentation, for which Radok must take a large share of the credit. It was an imaginative and dramatically convincing reading, which in no way is meant to belittle the contribution made by the orchestra or the singers, who all gave strong performances and made it the most successful of the four operas I reviewed at this year’s festival.

The post Janáček Brno Festival 2024 Review: Rusalka appeared first on OperaWire.

The season opens with “Triumph in Time” featuring Händel’s “Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno,” conducted by Giovanni Antonini. The cast stars Anett Fritsch, Julia Lezhneva, Lucile Richardot, and Krystian Adam Krzeszowiak.

Performance Date: Sept. 5, 2024

“Transfer of Ideas” features the Festival Ensemble under Andrzej Kosendiak and participants in the 48th Oratorio and Cantata Music Interpretation Course. The program features arias from Händel’s “Almira’ and Keiser’s “Almira.”

Performance Date: Sept. 7, 2024

Conductor Pedro Memelsdorff leads “Kourou – towards Paradise,” a four-part program of works by Gossec, Hinner, de Tremais, Giornovichi, and Ortiz, among others. Kathrin Hottiger, Markéta Cukrová, Marco Saccardin, and Luca Cervoni are the vocal soloists.

Performance Date: Sept. 7, 2024

Soprano Aleksandra Kubas-Kruk leads “Emigrants,” a program featuring works by Szajna-Lewandowska, Palester, Kilar, Schaeffer, and Sikora, among others. Anna Sulkowska-Migon conducts the NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra.

Performance Date: Sept. 7, 2024

Václav conducts Händel’s “Israel in Egypt” with a cast starring Helena Hozová, Tereza Zimková, Benno Schachtner, Krystian Adam Krzezowiak, Tomás Selc, and Tadeás Hoza.

Performance Date: Sept. 8, 2024

Yarloslaw Shemet conducts works by Górecki with Izabela Matula and Adam Kutny as the vocal soloists.

Performance Date: Sept. 12, 2024

Malgorzata Podzielny conducts soloists, the NFM Boy’s Choir, the NFM Girl’s Choir, and instrumentalists from the NFM and students of music schools in Britten’s “Noye’s Fludde.”

Performance Date: Sept. 14, 2024

The Ensemble Basiani presents “Travelling to the Source,” a program featuring such vocal soloists as Tornike Merabishvili, Giorgi Kunashvili, Elizabar Khachidze, Zviad Michilashvili, and George Donadze, among others.

Performance Date: Sept. 14, 2024

The season ends with Bruckner’s Mass No. 3 in F minor and Symphony in D minor.  Christoph Eschenbach conducts soloists, the NFM Choir, and the NFM Wroclaw Philharmonic.

Performance Date: Sept. 15, 2024

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“Rusalka,” alone among Dvořák’s operas, has managed to establish itself across the opera world, while his other ten have largely been ignored outside his Czech homeland. One or two have managed to keep a small toehold on the international stage, but only just. It is a strange state of affairs, especially in the case of “The Jacobin.” It might not be surprising that in the Czech Republic it has notched up well over 1000 performances at the Prague National Theatre, but if one considers the positive reception the opera has received when it has been staged in other countries, it is somewhat puzzling. By comparison, Smetana’s “The Bartered Bride,” much like “The Jacobin,” is a pastoral comic opera set in a village among the rolling hills of Bohemia and makes use of the local folk and dance rhythms, however it has suffered no such neglect. Brno Opera’s wonderful current production of “The Jacobin” has only added to the mystery.

The opera, premiered in 1889, is in three acts to a libretto by Marie Červinková-Riegrová. Dvořák, however, was not completely happy with the result and substantially revised the opera in 1897, which included revisions to the libretto by František Ladislav Rieger, the original librettist’s father, and this has become the definitive version and the one used on this occasion.

The narrative, however, is not particularly interesting but is no worse than the usual nonsense that occurs in comic operas. It concerns a count who is in the process of disinheriting his son, Bohuš, in favor of his nephew, Adolf. The count has turned against his son because he does not approve of his wife, Julie, nor of his Jacobite politics. Eventually, it is proved to the count that his son is a fine chap, and Adolf is not such a good soul after all. Add in another love match between Jiří and Terinka, of which her father, Benda, does not approve, along with the Burgrave, who wants Terinka for himself, and the usual ending, in which everything turns out splendidly, and you have the story. It is par for the course for the genre.

Nevertheless, the narrative holds together well, in which each act is neatly constructed, with the work’s overall dramatic shape clearly designed to promote balance and a pleasing forward momentum. There are plenty of opportunities for directors to bring out the comedy, and the drama does include numerous touching moments, particularly in the third act.

It is Dvořák’s music, however, that really makes this an opera worth seeing. His wonderful choral folk melodies, the festive cantata at the beginning of Act two, and the moving individual numbers are all lyrically appealing and possess a sentimental lilt, which fits nicely with the nature of the drama. Again, it is the overall shape that works very well: the first act is awash with folk melodies, but over the course of the opera, the dramatic side of the music becomes more assertive, and the folk element plays a lesser role, which allows the tension to successfully build over the course of the evening.

Glaser’s Clear Direction Successfully Captures the Spirit of the Work

The director, Martin Glaser, was intent on providing a straightforward reading that promoted the narrative without trying to uncover or highlight hidden or tangential themes. So, along with the scenographer, Pavel Borák, they decided on a staging that would reflect the rhythms of peasant daily life and the undulating landscape of the region. Firmly eschewing the idea of green hills, village onion-domed churches, and geese running around outside a village inn, they opted for a wavy, light-brown, pine-colored, tiered stage with small models of white farmhouses, cottages and churches dotted over the surface. The count’s manor house sat on the top tier. A light blue background created the idea of a beautiful summer’s day. Admittedly, this does not sound particularly imaginative or interesting, but it worked exceptionally well. The tiers could be moved up and down to give the stage different shapes and a sense of the changing perspectives of the countryside. It also functioned well by allowing the chorus to enter and leave without causing unnecessary disruption. Moreover, it did give the impression of rolling hills, littered with farms.

The costumes, designed by David Janošek, were not the heavy, traditional folk costumes of the 18^th and 19^th centuries but lighter abstracted versions, which still, however, managed to retain the essence of the tradition. The principal singers were given costumes with bolder designs that reflected their roles and characters. Adolf and the Burgrave, for example, the baddies of the production, were dressed in yellow and green respectively, and had something of the comic about them. It was never possible to take them really seriously.

In fact, Glaser’s presentation had the feel of a storybook. The singers played out their roles in stereotypical fashion, often with exaggerated movements, without any subtlety. Terinka was a good person pursued by the Burgrave, who was a bad person. Bohuš and Julie were also good people, who would hold hands lovingly as they watched on. The peasants are wholesome, lively and happy. Everything was played out in bold strokes, except for the count in the final act. Cold and aloof throughout the opera, he becomes emotional after hearing Julie sing a fondly remembered lullaby, and his heart starts to melt, and his character softens. It was a well-crafted scene and worked because the characters around him are portrayed in a light-hearted, almost superficial, manner, thereby magnifying his transformation.

Strong Singing Performances that Play Up to Their Characters 

Although all the singers engaged with their roles enthusiastically to create clearly identifiable characters, it was their ability to combine as a team that ensured the production was a success. They were attentive to their own roles but were also sensitive to everyone else on stage. There were no standout performances; all the singers played their parts well, both vocally and through their acting.

Bass David Szendiuch produced a convincing portrait of Count Vilém in which he captured his character’s inner pain and strong emotions. For most of the opera, he was a distant, detached figure who interacted only formally with the people around him. However, in the third act, confronted by Benda and then Julie, his memories of his son flood back and he is overwhelmed by emotion, with which he imbued the vocal line. It was his ability to contrast his initial superficial demeanor with his deeply held feelings that made the opera more than just a piece of lighthearted fun.

His son Bohuš was played by baritone Roman Hoza. He portrayed him as a decent, calm, refined young man of good standing, which was reinforced by his staid, middle-class, appearance. He was prone to occasional frustrations; however, Hoza voiced them firmly and never overreacted. His singing was secure and measured with a warm, inviting tone. Even when emotionally roused, he maintained an air of composure and did not allow his voice to overly emphasize or force the point.

Soprano Pavla Vykopalová gave a credible performance as Bohuš’s wife, Julie. She possesses a secure, lyrically appealing voice that is able to move easily into her attractive upper register. Her scene with the count in the third act, in which she sings the lullaby that changes his mood and is followed by a short duet, was sensitively delivered, while her subsequent pleading to the count to forgive Bohuš allowed her to show off the expressive quality of her voice.

As Adolf, the count’s nephew, baritone Tadeáš Hoza was suitably unpleasant in his behavior, although not without an edge of mockery to dampen the impact of the vicious nature of his actions. He possesses a distinctive voice with a pleasing tone in his lower register. He often coated his singing with a demanding, occasionally fierce edge, a must for any serious comic villain.

Bass Jan Štáva was brilliant in his essaying of the Burgrave, playing up the role for all it was worth. In dealing with authority figures like the count or Adolf, he was obsequious in the extreme. When chasing Terinka, he cut a pathetic, foolish figure, and with Jirí, he was threatening and jealous yet cowardly. He lorded it over the peasants with the unpleasant behavior of someone wallowing in their sense of power. Yet, Štáva’s acting ensured that he always verged on the comical, which his green elf-like costume accentuated. His singing was neatly matched to the postures he adopted and was characterized by vocal clarity and expressivity.

Tenor Aleš Briscein, cast as Terinka’s beau Jirí, produced an ardent performance, clearly displaying his love as well as courage in being prepared to face both her father, Benda, who disapproves of him as a potential son-in-law, and the Burgrave, who is forever threatening to conscript him into the army. He has a lyrically resonant tenor, which he successfully employed to voice his passion. Occasionally, he sang with too much volume, which put him out of step with the rest of the cast.

The good-hearted schoolteacher, Benda, had a lot in common with a buffo role in the traditional Italian style: always trying to impose his will on those around him, whether it be the schoolchildren, his daughter or Jirí, he rarely managed to succeed, and was often the butt of other people’s jokes or tricks. The tenor Petr Levícek played the role perfectly; he was often demanding, exasperated and frustrated, which he hammed up to maximum effect. He produced a confident, colorful singing performance in which he showed ability in embellishing the vocal line with emotional infections to heighten the affect. Occasionally, he pushed himself too hard in the upper register and lost a little focus, but it did little to reduce the impact.

Soprano Lucie Kanková was a young, fresh and innocent Terinka, but she knew more than she let on and was quite capable of challenging and manipulating her father. Her voice has a bright, open quality with an attractive upper register and is able to sing with a great sense of freedom. In Act two she showed off the beauty and quality of her voice with a fine rendition of the aria “In autumn’s hazel shrubs,” in which she splendidly captured Dvořák’s pleasing melody. She also has quite a strong stage presence.

Mezzo-soprano Jitka Zerhauová, cast in the relatively small role of Lotinka, produced a solid, clearly sung performance.

It was a marvelous experience watching and listening to the Janáčkovy Opera Chorus singing and dancing its way through the happy, vibrant folk pieces. They were imaginatively and beautifully choreographed, and the chorus master, Pavel Koňárek, oversaw an engaging singing performance, which really brought out the close community relationships, warmth and joy of the peasantry. It was the Act two festive cantata, which included a children’s chorus, however, that really caught the attention. The energy, the depth of the sound, the rhythmic vitality and the clarity of the voices were simply captivating. One might doubt anyone in the theatre could have failed to be moved by their singing.

The conductor, Jakub Klecker, elicited a rhythmically vibrant reading from the Janáčkovy Opera Orchestra, which successfully caught the spirit of the work, especially in its numerous folk-based melodies. Moreover, his handling of the overall musical shape and rich musical textures were expertly judged to ensure that the dramatic tensions and momentum grew steadily towards its Act three climax, yet without ever losing the underlying essential sentimental lilt, which keeps the work from descending into anything too serious.

It was an unexpectedly fine performance of an opera for which one’s expectations were not particularly high. It is a coherent, sentimental work that nevertheless does enough to maintain interest, and Dvořák’s music is so rich in melody that one cannot fail to be charmed. Added to this, the audience was treated to some fine singing from a strong cast, supported by a vibrant reading from the orchestra. It all amounted to a splendid evening of entertainment.

The post National Theatre Brno 2023-24 Review: The Jacobin appeared first on OperaWire.

The orchestra and choir, Le Spirituel, under the baton of Hervé Niquet, will present Vivaldi’s Magnificat and Gloria per l’ospedale.

Performance Date: Oct. 10, 2023

In November, songs inspired by arias from Verdi, Gounod, Mozart, Offenbach, Rossini, Bizet, and Wagner’s operas will be performed for kids aged two and above. Mélanie Flahaut and artistic director Arnaud Marzorati lend their voices to Damien Schoëvaërt-Brossault’s pop-up creation.

Performance Dates: Nov. 14 & 15, 2023

Conductor and Insula Music Director and Founder Laurence Equilbey leads the orchestra and Accentus in a presentation of Handel’s Messiah, featuring soprano Sandrine Piau, countertenor Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian, tenor Stuart Jackson, and bass Alex Rosen.

Performance Dates: Dec. 3, 5, 6, 20 & 21, 2023; Apr. 1, 2024

Václav Luks will conduct a performance of Bach’s Magnificat and Zelenka’s Missa Corporis Domini, featuring Collegium Vocale 1704, Collegium 1704, sopranos Tereza Zimková, Helena Hozová, Pavla Radostová; altos Aneta Petrasová, Kamila Mazalová; tenor Ondřej Holub; and basses Tomáš Šelc, Tadeáš Hoza.

Performance Date: Dec.16, 2023

Mozart’s Requiem will be presented using only fragments written by the composer in a performance choreographed and stage-directed by Yoann Bourgeois and conducted by Laurence Equilbey. Soprano Hélène Carpentier, alto Eva Zaïcik, tenor Jonathan Abernethy, and bass Christian Immler will be joined by Accentus.

Performance Dates: Jan. 12, 13, 14, 19 & 20, 2024

Handel’s “Agrippina,” starring Sophie Rennert (Agrippina), Federico Fiorio (Nerone), and Luigi De Donato (Claudio), will be presented by Accademia Bizantina, with Ottavio Dantone on the podium.

Performance Date: Jan. 30, 2024

Conductor Justin Doyle will lead RIAS Kammerchor and Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin in Bach’s St. John Passion performance. Soloists include Florian Sievers as the Evangelist and Dominic Barberi as Jesus. Join them will be soprano Sarah Aristidou and bass Matthias Winckhler.

Performance Date: Mar. 26, 2024

More Bach follows with “Bach: From Abyss to Light,” featuring a program comprising Overture for Orchestra No. 4, motets “Komm, Jesu, komm,” and “Jesu, meine Freude,” along with two cantatas, No. 131 “Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir,” and No. 72 “Alles nur nach Gottes Willen.” Alto Rose Naggar-Tremblay, tenor Gwilym Bowen, and bass Victor Sicard will join Accentus and the orchestra under the baton of Laurence Equilbey.

Performance Dates: Mar. 28, 29, 31 & Apr. 7, 2024

Soprano Patricia Petibon will present “The Baroque Sorceress,” teaming up with Ensemble Amarillis to perform music by Jean-Féry Rebel, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Marin Marais, Jean-Marie Leclair, and Jean-Philippe Rameau. Héloïse Gaillard conducts.

Performance Date: Apr. 4, 2024

Sigvards Kļava leads Accentus and soloist Ganavya Doraiswamy in a presentation of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Vespers and a new composition commissioned by Insula by Israeli composer Sivan Eldar.

Performance Date: Apr. 26, 2024

Thomas Hengelbrock will conduct the Balthasar Neumann Ensembles in a presentation of Handel’s Dixit Dominus and Bach’s Mass in G minor.

Performance Date: May 6, 2024

The orchestra will present “Beethoven Wars,” a stage creation combining the latest digital technologies and the world of manga. Based on two of Beethoven’s luminous and humanistic pieces of music—”King Stephen” and “The Ruins of Athens.” This new show is the brainchild of conductor Laurence Equilbey and stage director Antonin Baudry. Soloists include soprano Ellen Giacone and bass Matthieu Heim. Joining them will be Accentus.

Performance Dates: May 23, 25 & 26, 2024

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