Jenůfa

Jenůfa by the Czech composer Leoš Janáček is scheduled at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma in May. The opera is part of the three-year project in collaboration with the Royal Opera House in London, which has already seen Kát'a Kabanová and From a House of the Dead on stage and which concludes with Jenůfa.

The orchestra, directed by Juraj Valčuha, acclaimed interpreter of Janáček's music as well as current musical director of the Houston Symphony Orchestra, also sees the debut at the Opera House of the great German director Claus Guth, who obtained the Olivier Award in 2022 for best opera production.

The three-act opera with a libretto by the composer, based on the drama Její pastorkyňa by Gabriella Preissová, written between 1896 and 1902, it was performed at the National Theater in Brno in 1904 and tells with great realism the anguish and torments up to the final redemption of Jenůfa, a single mother who lives in a small Slovakian village. In addition to its dimension of dark tragedy set in the context of an oppressive and closed rural society (a pregnancy outside of marriage considered a grave sin, suffocating family relationships, love characterized by strong components of violence and oppression, a terrible infanticide), Janáček's masterpiece is characterized by the dramatic force in the study of the psychology of the characters, which makes it one of the most innovative works of musical theater of the early 20th century.

Among the main performers, we remember: Cornelia Beskow (in the role of Jenůfa), Karita Mattila (in the role of the old sacristan Buryjovka), Charles Workman (in the role of Laca Klemeň), Robert Watson (in the role of Števa Buryja). Orchestra and Chorus of the Rome Opera Theater.

Photo credits: official poster of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma