In the last ten years of his life, Leoš Janácek enjoyed a glorious burst of creativity. His inspiration was partly derived from his unconsummated love for a young married woman – Kamill Stoesslova – whom he met in 1917 and to whom he wrote over six hundred letters. The title of Intimate Pages that was given to String Quartet No. 2 refers to these love letters. This recording, featuring the international-acclaimed Czech Panocha Quartet, was made at the University in Prague.
Sinfonietta
This studio recording featuring the Nederlands Dans Theater captures a scintillating performance of Kylián’s ballet inspired by the music of his Czech compatriot, Janácek. It is danced against a backdrop of the Bohemian countryside, created by Walter Nobbe, and expresses his emotional attachment to his homeland. He chose the piece because it stands as an ode to freedom, beauty and the joy of living, and the result is a ballet full of energetic exuberance, combined with some moving lyric passages.
The Makropulos Case
Based on a play by Karel Capek, The Makropulos Case focuses on the issue of longevity – the pros and cons of living for 337 years, as happens to the mysterious Emilia Marty, the sexually irresistible prima donna who’s seen it all and done it all. Part grotesque human comedy, part profound personal tragedy, Janácek’s opera examines the eternal mystery of human existence with uniquely life-enhancing vision. “Anja Silja’s Emilia Marty in Makropulos at Glyndebourne is a nonpareil triumph… This is a near-perfect production by Nikolaus Lehnhoff” Wall Street Journal
Janácek, String Quartet No.1 (1923)
Jenufa
Leoš Janácek’s third opera, with its echoes of folk music from the composer’s native Moravia, was his first real success and got the name “Moravian national opera”. Besides
this, Janácek’s music has a special quality: while it explores psychological extremes leading to violence and infanticide and lays bare characters’ emotions in an unsparing manner,
no one is judged. Jenufa has a special relationship with the Staatsoper Unter den Linden: when it premiered in Berlin in 1924, its success on the German stage was assured until nowadays. “Rattle reveals a dynamic understanding of Janácek’s musical language in a reading that’s urgent, unsentimental and richly flavoured” (bachtrack.com). The FAZ described the production as “a beguiling mixture of speaking articulation and tonal roundness.”
Janácek, Jenufa
“Sometimes all that is needed is to match the right director with the right piece: Christof Loy and Janácek’s Jenufa are evidently just such a happy case, giving the Deutsche Oper Berlin the rare example of an opera production as intelligent as it is modern” (Opernglas). Jenufa, still Janácek’s most successful and most often performed opera, is a musical study of the social milieu. The psychologically precise role management of Christof Loy (“exemplary”, said the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) results in “a staging with an authentically tragic aura” (NY Times).
Salzburg Festival 2020: András Schiff plays Schubert and Janácek
“The virtuosic and at the same time musical brilliance made the audience hold its breath. An experience” Der Standard. PROGRAM Schubert: Four Impromptus, D. 935 . Piano Sonata, D. 840, Impromptu No. 3, D. 899, Moment musical No. 3, D. 780; Janácek: In the Mists (V mlhách), Piano Sonata 1. X. 1905, Dobrou noc! (Good Night!); Bartók: Kanásztánc (Swine-herd‘s Dance) from For Children
Salzburg Festival 2012: Zurich Ballet and the Hagen Quartet
A singular project is staged at the Salzburg Festival with the famous Felsenreitschule as a backdrop: for the first time the renowned Hagen Quartet appears at the festival accompanied by a dance company. The Swiss grand master of dance Heinz Spoerli presents three works he choreographed for his Zurich Ballet set to three of the great works of the quartet literature: Leos Janácek’s string quartet “Intimate Letters”, Antonín Dvorák’s “American Quartet” and Franz Schubert’s string quartet “The Death and the Maiden”.
Salzburg Festival 2022: Káta Kabanová
Janácek’s opera Káta Kabanová is set in a small Russian town and is based on the play The Storm by Aleksandr Ostrov– sky. The story revolves around the central character, Káta – sung by “the phenomenal Corinne Winters” (Neue Musikzeitung) – who is trapped in a loveless marriage to an abusive man named Boris. Despite her unhappiness, she is bound by the strict societal norms of her time and is unable to escape the situation. However, when she meets and falls in love with a young man named Vána Kudrjáš, she finally experiences happiness and passion. But their relationship is short-lived, as Boris finds out and forces Káta to confess her infidelity in front of the entire town. Overwhelmed by the shame and guilt, she drowns herself in the nearby river. The opera explores themes of social conformity, oppression, and the consequences of forbidden love. Janácek’s use of musical leitmotifs and repetitive themes reflect the characters’ emotions and psychological states, adding depth and nuance to the story. Stage director Barrie Kosky managed to create an intimate but impressive setting in the magnificent Felsenreitschule. “The young Czech conductor Jakub Hruša, highly esteemed by the Wiener Philharmoniker, leads the orchestra with a feeling for the great moments as well as the fine lyricism of the grandiose score. Corinne Winters is thrilling in the title role” (Kronenzeitung)
The Cunning Little Vixen
After quarter of a century, legendary director Otto Schenk returns to the Wiener Staatsoper to stage Leoš Janácek’s musical fairy tale The Cunning Little Vixen, conducted by Tomáš Netopil. Although the opera premiered in 1924, it took more than 90 years for The Cunning Little Vixen to enter the stage of the magnificent Wiener Staatsoper. To celebrate the fact that the work is heard at the house on the Ring for the very first time, none other than Austrian theatre luminary Otto Schenk devotes himself to staging the adventures of the clever fox and accompanying wildlife. Otto Schenk’s take on Janácek’s opera leaves nothing to be desired: “A triumph!” (Kronen Zeitung). “Tremendous applause for Schenk, the living legend!” (Wiener Zeitung).