The premiere of the opera “Jenūfa” directed by Alvias Hermanis will take place
Leoš Janáček’s opera is set in a Moravian village in the Czech Republic and is a poignant story of love, crime and forgiveness.
The opera composer dedicated the opera to the memory of his daughter, whom he had to lose early, but this heavy loss marked a fateful turning point in his work, which grew into a new creative quality.
In his musical language, Janaček fuses classical and folk music traditions, his music opens up new horizons for performers in the opera genre, which is highlighted by opera director Egils Siliņš as an important aspect.
“I am also very happy about the music itself, about the fact that such very complex music is returning or appearing in our repertoire. It is a challenge for both the soloists and the orchestra, but if there are more difficult tasks, then the artistic qualities also strengthen and grow, and then sing some Donizetti opera after that – how simple and easy it is!” says Egils Siliņš.
As the musical director and conductor Mārtiņš Ozoliņš admits, there is a huge gradation of emotions in Janāček’s opera, starting from fragile intimate moods to a dramatically escalated, almost screaming outburst of feelings.
When staging the work, a Czech language specialist was also invited.
“We have worked a lot on the stylistic language of Janāček’s music, which results from this idea of his, from the speech text that comes from the language, from the intonations, which are then reflected in the orchestra,” says Mārtiņš Ozoliņš. “He was different from the composers of the time, and that’s something I’d really like us to do to the end and make it clear to the ear that it’s not just late romanticism, but it’s a different musical experience, a different musical language.”
Ten years ago, Alvjas Hermanis’ original production premiered at the Brussels Opera, it was also shown in Italy and Poland, and the director admits that he is very pleased with this Latvian version, because each interpretation gives the production a completely different energy and soul.
“I think this show is very suitable for Riga, because Riga is an Art Nouveau city, and I felt this music very much like Art Nouveau music, where ethnography is combined with modernism. I’m not such a strong music person, I don’t know how complicated this music is , but of course I have listened to it countless times, it seems infinitely beautiful to me,” admits Alvis Hermanis.
The presence of the ballet is very important in the production, as well as the very gorgeous visual image, which especially highlights the color of the Moravian region.
“We have a costume designer from England. At first, the idea was to invite a very, very extravagant costume designer. I remember that when we were preparing the production in Brussels, we contacted John Galliano to work on this show. But when I went to Moravia myself and saw the costumes of the Moravian people, I realized that there is no need for a Galliano, there is a need for a proper English costume designer like Anna Wotkinska, and really, they are the costumes of the Moravian people, as they are, nothing has been invented,” says the director.
Even before the premiere, Egils Siliņš noticed a number of people unrelated to the production in the opera house, who are already completely under the spell of the show’s visual charm.
“At least in the canteen, the barmaid is very happy about the very beautiful costumes and choreography, she is a person who is not a musician and who is not involved and bribed to say something particularly good, but her big monitor TV is showing and she says – oh, every day it makes me like more and more!” says Silinš.
The premiere of the production “Jenuf” at the National Opera can be seen on Thursday, February 23.
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