19 May 2018, Stadttheater, Konzert Theater Bern, Bern, Switzerland Leoš Janáček: Katja Kabanova (premiere) Directed by: Florentine Klepper, music director: Kevin John Edusei Cast: Johanni van Oostrum (Katja), Alessandro Liberatore (Boris), Andries Cloete (Tichon), Eleonora Vacchi (Varvara), Andreas Daum (Dikoj), Ursula Füri-Bernhard (Kabanicha) and others In Czech with German subtitles Following performances: 23 and 27 May, 1, … Read more
29 April 2018, Landestheater Coburg, Coburg, Germany (following the cancelled performances on April 22 and 25) Antonín Dvořák: Rusalka (premiere) directed by: Tobias Heyder, music director: Roland Kluttig Cast: Judith Kuhn / Betsy Horne (Rusalka), Milen Bozhkov (Prince), Michael Lion (Water Goblin), Kora Pavelic / Gabriela Künzler (Witch), Kora Pavelic / Marlene Lichtenberg (Foreign Princess) … Read more
28 April 2018, Bohemian National Hall, New York, USA Czech American Inspiration Petr Kotík: Master-Pieces (2014-15) – New York premiere directed by: Jiří Nekvasil, David Bazika, music director: Petr Kotík S.E.M. Ensemble (Christina Kay – soprano, Steven Wilson – tenor, Jose Pietri-Coimbre – baritone, Nicholas Hay – bass, Pauline Kim Harris – violin, Liuh-Wen Ting – viola, Amanda Gookin – violoncello, Jeffrey Reinhardt – … Read more
For the first time ever, Bohuslav Martinů’s operatic masterpiece The Greek Passion was performed in Russia, at the State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre in Ekaterinburg. The premiere took place on 19 April with reprises over the following three days. The first of the opera’s two versions was directed by Thaddeus Strassberger and conducted by the theatre’s chiefconductor … Read more
On 7 April, the New Scene of the National Theatre in Prague presented the long-awaited premiere of the opera adaptation of Ivan Klíma’s mystery novel The Sufferings of Prince Sternenhoch. Its author, primarily a scenic music composer and musical autodidact Ivan Acher (*1976) had already written music for the book’s theatre adaptation at Divadlo Komedie eleven years ago; … Read more
On 1 April, Oper Frankfurt introduced their new production of Leoš Janáček’s last opera From the House of the Dead. It was created by Italian conductor Tito Ceccherini and German-French director David Hermann, who had for the last time worked with Janáček’s music only two years ago, directing The Makropulos Affair in the renowned Deutsche Oper Berlin. … Read more
„How to talk about the terrors and inhumanity of the Nazi period to kids? And how to speak about those whose names have never made it to historical literature?” These are the questions Landestheater Linz was trying to answer in their new production of Hans Krása’s children’s opera Brundibár premiered on 31 March. Conductor Martin Braun and … Read more
After 45 years, Leoš Janáček’s Cunning Little Vixen returned to the stage of Theater Hagen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The premiere on 24 March has already received a very positive critical response. The praise has concerned mainly the direction by Mascha Pörzgen, who perfectly balanced both levels of the story – a beast fable and an allegorical drama – and the performance of … Read more
Conductor Will Humburg concluded his three-year-long Janáček cycle at Staatstheater Darmstadt with a new production of The Makropulos Affair. The theatre’s general music director is already an expert when it comes to the Moravian composer; apart from Jenůfa and The Cunning Little Vixen in Darmstadt, he had also conducted Katya Kabanova a couple of years ago in Bonn. The directress Eva-Maria Höckmayer tried to depict especially the … Read more
For the first time in its history, the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, presented From the House of the Dead, the last opera by composer Leoš Janáček. Created in co-production with Brussels’ La Monnaie theatre and Opéra National de Lyon, the performance is remarkable for the involvement of several Czech and Slovak singers; apart … Read more
