-San Francisco Classical Voice

 

Seductive opera diva Emilia Marty has broken hearts for more than 300 years and doesn’t look a day past 35. But now the magical elixir giving her eternal youth is wearing off. When she reveals uncanny knowledge of events long gone and exerts inexplicable power over men surrounding her, it’s soon obvious that there is more to this enigmatic femme fatale than meets the eye.

This beautifully detailed and meticulously crafted award-winning production directed by David Radok opened the Janáček Brno international festival in 2014 to great acclaim. The work itself premiered at the National Theatre Brno in 1926, in the same hugely creative period of Janáček’s life which also saw masterworks like Katya Kabanova and the Glagolitic Mass. From the very first note it contains some of his most radiant, life-affirming music.

Based on Czech writer Karel Capek’s play, Janáček’s penultimate opera unfolds as an exciting mystery thriller, tackling the big questions of love, life and death. It keeps its audience guessing until the gripping end.

 

Conductor: Marko Ivanović

Director: David Radok

Set Design: Ondřej Nekvasil, Zuzana Ježková

Costume Design: Zuzana Ježková

Lighting Design: Petr Kozumplík

With Orchestra and Chorus of the Janáček Opera of the National Theatre Brno

Performance: National Theatre Brno

National Theatre Brno The elegant city of Brno is steeped in culture. Once the capital of Moravia in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire and now the second largest city of the Czech Republic, Brno is the birthplace of Czech writer Milan Kundera and its National Theatre is indelibly associated with the music of Leoš Janáček, one of the greatest composers of the 20th century.