We left at the interval...

Hungarian National Opera, Budapest, Saturday April 18 2015 Conductor: Graeme Jenkins. Production: Attila Vidnyánszky. Sets and costumes: Olexander Bizolub. Buryja: Éva Balatoni. Laca Klemen: János Bándi. Steva Burya: Atilla Kiss B. Kostelnicka: Gyöngyi Lukács. Jenufa: Szilvia Rálik. Mill Foreman: Gábor Bretz. Mayor: László Szvétek. Mayor's wife: Katalin Gémes. Karolka: Krisztina Simon. Neighbour: Éva Várhelyi. Barena: Erika Markovics. Jano: Eszter Zavaros.   Photo: Attila Nagy In Budapest on the whole singers don't hold back, but despite the commitment of the four principals this performance of Jenufa was not a great success for various reasons, some of them probably to do with it being a first night. For a start, the two tenors had a problem with pacing. Vocally they were sharply contrasted: Attila Kiss B.'s voice is clear and brassy; János Bándi's is darker and, in timbre but not volume, softer. Both threw themselves almost alarmingly into the first act, and thi...

La Monnaie, Brussels, Sunday February 2 2014 Conductor: Ludovic Morlot. Production and sets: Alvis Hermanis. Costumes: Anna Watkins. Lighting: Gleb Filshtinsky. Video: Ineta Sipunova. Jenůfa: Andrea Danková. Laca Klemeň: Charles Workman. Števa Buryja: Nicky Spence. Kostelnička Buryjovka: Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet. Stařenka Buryjovka: Carole Wilson. Stárek: Ivan Ludlow. Rychtář: Alexander Vassiliev. Rychtářka: Mireille Capelle. Karolka: Hendrickje Van Kerckhove. Pastuchnyňa: Beata Morawska. Jano: Chloé Briot. Barena: Nathalie Van de Voorde. Tetka: Marta Beretta. Orchestra and Chorus of La Monnaie. Let me see... Janacek was Moravian. So was Mucha. Jenufa is set in a Moravian village. Moravian folk costume is unexpectedly lavish. Kabuki uses lavish costumes and is highly stylised. Mucha and art nouveau were all the rage in Prague at the time. The ballets russes were all the rage elsewhere. Shame they didn't tour to Prague. In Jenufa , the crux of the drama - deep-freezi...

Paris, Théâtre du Châtelet, May 24, 2003 Conductor: Sylvain Cambreling. Production: Stéphane Braunschweig. Jenufa: Karita Mattila. Kostelnicka: Rosalind Plowright. Laca: Stefan Margita. Steva: Gordon Gietz. Buryjovka: Menai Davies. Starek: Ivan Kusnjer. Judge: René Schirrer. Judeg's wife: Galina Kuklina. Orchestre de Paris. The less said about bad opera productions (leaving more space to discuss good ones), the better, we might feel. But it turns out to be a great deal harder to do justice in writing to an outstanding evening than to a more commonplace one. Stéphane Braunschweig’s 1996 production of Jenufa was one of the finest I have ever seen. Ever the optimist, I was afraid that when at last it returned to the Châtelet the revival might prove a disappointment. But it didn’t: with a different cast, the magic nevertheless worked again. Janacek The production, as befits the work, is dark and spare. The story is told straight, helped by a few stunning theatrical gestures, not hinde...