Janacek - Vec Makropoulos

ONP Bastille, Tuesday October 17 2023.

Conductor: Susanna Mälkki. Production: Krzysztof Warlikowski. Sets and costumes: Małgorzata Szczęśniak. Lighting: Felice Ross. Video: Denis Guéguin. Emilia Marty: Karita Mattila. Albert Gregor: Pavel Černoch. Vitek: Nicholas Jones. Krista: Ilanah Lobel-Torres. Jaroslav Prus: Johan Reuter. Janek: Cyrille Dubois. Kolenaty: Károly Szemerédy. Hauk-Sendorf: Peter Bronder. Orchestra and Chorus of the Opéra National de Paris.

Photos © Bernd Uhlig / Opéra national de Paris

 

Janacek is, without a doubt, one of my favourite composers, Makropoulos is one of my favourite operas, and Warlikowski's production of this fascinating and moving work is one of both his and the Paris Opera's best. I saw it in 2007 (see this initial report for a description of the production), 2009 and 2013, yet it has remained curiously elusive online, and given the Paris house's capricious tendency to discard its productions (Warlikowski's memorable Parsifal never resurfaced and has already been replaced by something less good) regardless of quality and cost, I didn't expect I'd ever get a chance to see it again. With the post-Covid boom in tourism, Greece is a popular destination, and pet cabins (we travel with a dog) on the overnight ferries are scarce, so I'd booked my summer trip long before the Opéra's schedule came out, but by dashing back across Italy and France I was able catch the final performance of the series.

Ten years on, this year's cast was (apart from Mälkki in the pit) totally different, but E.M.'s entourage was very sound. It was good to see and hear Pavel Černoch's full, firm-voiced Gregor, and very interesting to have Cyrille Dubois, grinning and swaggering idiotically, as Janek. I wouldn't have recognised him had his name not been listed. But all of this new 'supporting' cast was strong: Kolenaty, Prus, Krista, Hauk-Sendorf... Only Nicholas Jones, as Vitek, being very young, showed signs of a struggle at the top: Janacek has no pity on his tenors.

So, this revival has been a huge hit, greeted with a chorus of praise, for Karita Mattila and Susanna Mälkki especially. Perhaps, having chosen the parterre to be relatively close (row 12), I was in one of the house's acoustic black holes, but if I'm to be honest I'm afraid mine will be a dissenting voice. When the reprise and cast were announced, having seen Mattila as Herodias this time last year, I was surprised and intrigued. Having read the reviews (contrary to my usual policy of reading nothing till I can see and hear for myself; in this case, I couldn't resist), my hopes were raised. But in the event, at 63, Mattila looks, moves and sounds like an older woman. 'Well,' people will say, 'the character's over 300 years old.' Yes, but though E.M.'s elixir of youth needs topping up, until the final scenes she still has all the men gasping at her feet. Albert tells her 'You arouse something frightening (...) surely you know how lovely you are (...) fabulously beautiful...' with, in this production, one hand thrust deeply into a trouser pocket and the other hiding his flies. Also in this production, Emilia drops her knickers and hands them to Prus before bedding him. And her powers of fascination drive Janek (like Narraboth) to suicide.

 

Mattila certainly has charisma, and brings a degree of madness to the role, recalling her battiness as Herodias. But her movements constantly look cautious, unsteady, at times almost doddery. Her voice is but a shadow of what it was, though still occasionally effective in quieter, more reflective moments, when her experience and artistry can come into play more comfortably - and therefore undeniably moving at the end: all's well that ends well, I commented to my neighbour, but he remained as disappointed as I was. In cases like this, of course I wonder if it's 'just me', but I noted that there was no explosion of cheers and applause at the end of this final performance, no standing ovation: just one woman a couple of rows in front stood up.

Contributing to my disappointment was the orchestra under Susanna Mälkki. Her approach to Janacek came across to me as tame, lacking in dynamism and raw power. And to be honest, as I heard the chaotic horns and fudged rhythms, I wondered if, for Makropoulos, the orchestra was fielding a B team, keeping its A players for Lohengrin. 

 

I'm sorry to put in such a sour-sounding report. It will be interesting to seek out the video of this revival in the hopes of discovering I was just in a bad seat or a bad mood. In any case, it will be good to have, at last, a proper visual record of this landmark Warlikowski production.