The conductor, reprising his role for the eighth performance of this opera, describes his compatriot as “one of the greatest 20th-century opera composers.” ‘Jenufa,’ renowned for being one of the most performed dramas globally, is celebrated for its “deeply moving” plot, the conductor told the news agency Lusa.
The first version of ‘Jenufa,’ which premiered in Brno, Czech Republic, in 1908, was initially perceived as eccentric, prompting the composer to revise it and present a second version. Today, the original version is the most performed on international opera stages and will feature at the Grande Auditório of the CCB next Friday and Sunday, in a production by Canadian director Robert Carsen, 25 years after its last appearance in the S. Carlos season.
Kyzlink expressed to Lusa the challenge for the cast to sing in Czech, a feat they have achieved successfully despite the language’s complexity. The lead role is performed by Croatian soprano Evelin Novak, with other cast members including American tenor Richard Trey Smagur, German-Turkmenian tenor Dovlet Nurgeldiyev, German soprano Ángeles Blancas, and Portuguese performers Cátia Moreso, Cláudia Anjos, Luís Rodrigues, Patrícia Quinta, José Corvelo, Paula Morna Dória, and Rafaela Albuquerque.
Leos Janácek also wrote the libretto for the opera, based on the play ‘Její pastorkyna’ by Gabriela Preissová, which caused a scandal on Czech stages in the 1890s.
Regarding the dramaturgy, maestro Jaroslav Kyzlink highlighted Leos Janácek’s “economy,” focusing on the story by eliminating the superfluous and delivering a highly concentrated musical composition. He noted the score “seems more difficult than it really is,” due to the “many notes” left by the Czech composer.
The maestro emphasized that this is Leos Janácek’s first opera, composed in his youth between 1896 and 1902, after which he took a break to focus on other works, but all his operas are considered masterpieces.
Kyzlink believes Leos Janácek was ahead of his time in his compositional work, “approximately 25 years” before his peers, contributing to his lack of understanding during that period. The short arias and minimal instrumentation, “without intermediate artifices,” are some of the innovations pointed out by the conductor.
Moravia, the setting for ‘Jenufa,’ inspired Janácek with its musical traditions, which is evident in the opera’s opening scene. “The tonal quality of the instruments also draws from folk sources,” Kyzlink added.
‘Jenufa’ is characterized by “a powerful story and music that will captivate the audience,” said Jaroslav Kyzlink, praising the “excellent” performance of the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra, the S. Carlos Theater Choir, and the entire cast.
Jaroslav Kyzlink, who served as music director of the National Opera of Prague from 2016 to 2022, was born in Brno, where he studied orchestral conducting at the Janácek Academy of Music and joined the opera of his hometown, which he eventually led. In the early 2000s, he directed the Slovak National Theater Opera.
His international career has included conducting at the Danish National Opera, Wexford Opera Festival, the National Theater in Tokyo, and working with composers like Gluck, Mozart, Rossini, Berlioz, Smetana, and Korngold, covering nearly 300 years of operatic repertoire. From 2014 to 2019, he was the principal conductor of the Slovenian National Theater in Ljubljana.
‘Jenufa’ returns to the program of the National Theater of S. Carlos after 25 years, with Canadian director Maria Lamonta overseeing Robert Carsen’s staging, the director noted for his work on Wagner’s tetralogy (“The Ring of the Nibelung”) in Cologne, and a regular presence in seasons at the Metropolitan Opera, the Bastille Opera, the La Fenice, the San Francisco Opera, and the Salzburg Festival, among other international stages.
The set and costumes for ‘Jenufa’ were designed by Patrick Kinmonth, a former creative director of British Vogue, who has collaborated with Carsen on operas by Handel, Mozart, and Wagner.
‘Jenufa’ will be performed at the Grande Auditório of the CCB in Lisbon, next Friday at 21:00 and on Sunday at 17:00.
