A Timeless Message in Music and Vision 20 aprile

A Timeless Message 'Jenüfa' at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna impresses GIUSEPPE PENNISI On 17 April 2015, with new management and an almost balanced budget, the Teatro Comunale di Bologna presented a new production of Jenůfa by Leoš Janáček — a joint effort with Brussels' Théâtre de la Monnaie and with Moscow's Bolshoi (where it is expected to become part of the repertory). I was in the audience. It was almost a premiere because in the past, Jenůfa had been shown in Bologna only in 1974 for three performances, as part of Prague National Theatre's Western European tour. Janáček's operas arrived in Italy after World War II. Over the last few years there has been a rediscovery. Jenůfa has been seen at La Scala, in Trieste, in Naples, at the Spoleto Festival and also in a few provincial theatres. Although Jenůfa's 1904 debut was in Brno, the work reached Prague only twelve years later, after great success in Germany (in Max Brod's translation), and especially at the Berlin Staatsoper (under Erich Kleiber). From left to right: Andrea Dankova as Jenůfa, Ales Briscein as Steva Buryia and Gabriella Sborgi as Starenka Buryjovka in Act I of Janáček's 'Jenůfa' at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. Photo © 2015 Rocco Casaluci On a superficial reading, Jenůfa may seem to be a blood and guts music drama, similar to those then quite fashionable, such as Cavelleria Rusticana and Pagliacci. The simple plot revolves around a pretty girl Jenůfa, vied and contended by two young half brothers, the extroverted, wealthy social climber Steva and the introverted almost psychopathic Laça. She is seduced by Steva and becomes pregnant. In a moment of fury, Laça slashes her cheek. Her step-mother (the Sacristan of the village Church) takes her to her home in the hills, even though everyone in the village is told that she is in Vienna. Other than Steva, nobody knows that she is expecting a baby. Andrea Dankova in the title role of Janáček's 'Jenůfa' at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. Photo © 2015 Rocco Casaluci The baby is born, but Steva does not want to marry Jenůfa: he is now betrothed to the mayor's daughter. On the contrary, Laça is still in love with the girl. For the Sacristan, the newly born baby is an obstacle to Jenůfa and Laça's marriage, so she takes it to the hills and lets it freeze to death. The body is recovered, merely by chance, during Jenůfa and Laça's wedding party. The Sacristan recounts the whole story. The mayor's daughter leaves Steva in disgust. Jenůfa and Laça get much closer together, forgive the Sacristan and ask for God's mercy. Andrea Dankova as Jenůfa (left) and Brenden Gunnell as Laça Klemen in Act III of Janáček's 'Jenůfa' at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. Photo © 2015 Rocco Casaluci This gruesome plot, integrated with Moravian folk singing and dancing in the first and third acts, is an apologue of forgiveness as clearly shown by Jenůfa and Laça's arioso at the end of the opera. During the previous nearly ninety minutes, the orchestration had been a mosaic of small themes, often juxtaposed with one another and the vocal score, in prose not verse, and carefully studied so that each consonant and vowel had a perfect fit in each note and register. The psychological features and developments of the main characters are explored much more deeply than in the play on which the opera is based. More specifically, the plot is intended to have a universal timeless meaning, not to be a crude drama tightly set in rural Moravia. From left to right: Brenden Gunnell as Laça Klemen, Andrea Dankova as Jenůfa and Gabriella Sborgi as Starenka Buryjovka in Act I of Janáček's 'Jenůfa' at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. Photo © 2015 Rocco Casaluci The staging was the responsibility of Alvis Hermanis. I appreciated his work in Die Soldaten (The War is Always On, 26 January 2015) and in Così fan tutte (Alive and Well, 31 December 2013). He is director of Riga's Dramatic Playhouse and only quite recently started working in musical theatre — with enormous success. In Jenůfa, he uses two rather simple devices to show the timeless message underlying the plot: the curtain is replaced by a rotating rose window with matriarchal art nouveau pictures, and the stage is divided into two levels. The action takes place on the lower level, counterpointed by the chorus of villagers (conducted by Andrea Faidutti) above. Also the first and third acts are set in a Moravian fairytale land, while the cruel second act takes place around the nineteen fifties, with poor furniture, an old refrigerator and a black and white television set which is always on (without sound). Angeles Blancas Gulìn as Kostelnicka Buryjovka in Act II of Janáček's 'Jenůfa' at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. Photo © 2015 Rocco Casaluci Juraj Valčuha conducted the orchestra with great care; each instrumentalist appeared to be a soloist, sometimes with Moravian folk instruments. Angeles Blancas Gulin, who often plays young and attractive woman (such as Cleopatra and Poppea), was made up to look old and became a formidable Sacristan. Andrea Dankova was the highly dramatic Jenůfa, and Brenden Gunnell was Laça with a clear timbre and a magnificent high C. Ales Briscein is the arrogant bullish Steva. A vast number of others, many of them young Italian singers, counterpoint the principals, all to great success. Copyright © 20 April 2015 Giuseppe Pennisi, Rome, Italy  << M&V home       Concert reviews        St Matthew Passion >>