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A Real Thriller
Makropoulos in the
Lagoon,
with GIUSEPPE PENNISI
As reported in Summer and Fall 2011 on the basis of a new Salzburg-Warsaw production [Faith and the
Devil, 22 August 2011] and
of a Florence staging [A Rather Special
Interpretation, 29 October 2011], Vec Makropoulos is one of Janácek's last works. Premiered in 1922 in Prague, it is based on a then successful play by Karel Capec which appears like a
thriller: the gradual uncovering of the mystery surrounding the opera singer Emilia Marty, who is in possession of detailed information about facts and documents long past (and of critical importance in a major trial which has lasted over
one hundred years). She exerts a strange fascination on everyone coming into contact
with her. In three acts, we discover that due to a strange set of events and a potion -- the Vec Makropoulos -- she has been living for three hundred and
twenty seven years. Her original name was Elina Makropoulos: she has changed
it several times (but always keeping the E M initials). She lost the Vec Makropoulos (the recipe for the
potion) in about 1820; unless she finds it again, she will have to die.
Well, she regains possession of the Vec Makropoulos but realizes that
she no longer has the desire to live for another three hundred years.
During the previous three centuries, she has lost all her friends and affections; now she wants to die. She
gives the Vec Makropoulos to a younger singer, Krista, who
decides to burn it.
Ángeles Blancas Gulin as E M in the introduction to Act I of
Janácek's 'The Makropoulos Case' in Venice. Photo © 2013 Michele
Crosera. Click on the image for higher resolution
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The opera is, perhaps,
Janácek's most successful attempt to merge words with tonalities so that the audience could grasp each and every nuance of a real
trial thriller lasting ninety minutes; however this can hardly be fully
appreciated unless the audience understands Moravian (the language of the libretto). Often the opera is performed in translation. In my opinion, the Italian 'versions' did not aid the understanding of
the tight dialogue on stage, and missed out the careful work to mould
words and tonalities. Also, until E M's final arioso, the opera is constructed on a tapestry or
mosaic of musical fragments joined in a large variety of combinations. This is a real challenge for both the orchestra and the singers. The protagonist requires a very strong personality and a great vocal capability.
Ángeles Blancas Gulin as E M and extras in the introduction to Act I
of Janácek's 'The Makropoulos Case' in Venice. Photo © 2013 Michele
Crosera. Click on the image for higher resolution
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La Fenice Opera House in Venice made the right decision in choosing the
original language with supertitles in both Italian and English to stage a major international production [seen 15 March 2013], shared with the Nurnberg Staatsoper and the
Opéra du Rhin. Incidentally, the production has been staged in London and Leeds, and may very well travel to other theatres.
Ángeles Blancas Gulin as E M, Eric Martinez Castiglione as Dr Kolenty
and Ladislav Elgr as Albert Gregor in Act I of Janácek's 'The
Makropoulos Case' in Venice. Photo © 2013 Michele Crosera. Click on
the image for higher resolution
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Ángeles Blancas Gulin as E M and Martin Barta as Joraslav Prus in Act
II of Janácek's 'The Makropoulos Case' in Venice. Photo © 2013
Michele Crosera. Click on the image for higher resolution
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During the short orchestral introduction, Ángeles Blancas Gulin (the protagonist)
wears a series of opera costumes from baroque to tragédie lyrique to Traviata -- a telling way to show the passage of the
three centuries and how E M progressively refined her vocal skills. Ángeles Blancas Gulin is an 'absolute soprano' who started with 'coloratura' roles; now she can keep an acute texture pitch, while exploding in high Cs in the final scene. This is the voice Janácek wanted: E M must be sensual and
erotic in attracting the men she thinks have possession of the Makropoulos
papers. It is not nitpicking, but with Ángeles Blancas Gulin, Vec
Makropoulos has a different flavour to that with Angela Denoke (nowadays,
the most frequent protagonist of the opera).
Ángeles Blancas Gulin as E M, Judita Nagyova as Christa and extra in
Act II of Janácek's 'The Makropoulos Case' in Venice. Photo © 2013
Michele Crosera. Click on the image for higher resolution
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The rest of the cast has good standards. Along with veterans of the respective roles
(eg Martin Barta), there are two excellent young tenors (Enrico Casari and Ladislav Elgr): it's worth
keeping their names in mind as most likely they will become famous.
Ángeles Blancas Gulin as E M and Martin Barta as Joraslav Prus in Act
II of Janácek's 'The Makropoulos Case' in Venice. Photo © 2013
Michele Crosera. Click on the image for higher resolution
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The musical direction was entrusted to Gabriele Ferro, his debut
with this opera at the age of seventy-six. His gestures are large; a lyric overtone is molded in the mosaic of musical
fragments typical of Janácek -- quite different from Esa Pekka Salonen
in Salzburg or Simon Rattle in Aix en Provence and from the late romantic posture of Zubin Mehta in Florence; the orchestra responded very well
to his conducting. There were warm applause and accolades when the curtain fell.
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