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Leoš Janáček, Jenůfa (acto 2, escena 6: Mamičko, mám těžkou hlavu). František Jílek, director Gabriela Beňačková, soprano

Duele.

#leoš janáček #jenůfa #františek jílek #gabriela beňačková

jenufa good

(sorry my phone doesn’t like me typing the correct czech diacriticals)

[Spoilers for this opera abound in the below, as a warning to anyone who's reading and doesn't yet know the plot!]

Omg, Jenůfa is SO SO SO good!!! Why is this opera not performed all the time, I ask?! (Or, at least to the same extent as the rest of what @shredsandpatches has cleverly termed the "Yeet the Baby" Trilogy of Trovatore, Faust, and Jenůfa, hee hee. [EDIT: And I have just learned that she acquired this terminology from YOU, @infinitelytheheartexpands... suffice to say, you are brilliant.])

I should preface this by saying that I've been a giant fan of Leoš Janáček's music for years, even if I've only just watched a recording of this opera for the first time. (Definitely binged-listened to Janáček's Sinfonietta for an entire summer, after reading Haruki Murakami's 1Q84, as the piece plays a big role in the novel from literally about the second page onwards.) There's such a phenomenal drive that runs through Janáček's music; I feel like it's always rippling outwards and pressing forwards towards something, even when the music itself is not necessarily narrative. He writes such phenomenally rich orchestrations, especially in his *fantastic* use of percussion (present from the first anxious bars of this opera, even!). And he manages to combine the sort of tuneful Czech nationalism of Dvořák (sometimes diegetically, within this opera) with a more 20th-century sensibility—Janáček is much more comfortable living in dissonance, and I absolutely love it. Oh, and Janáček LOVES holding a good swirling ostinato in the upper strings for a few measures at a time, and not only does this contribute to the aforementioned restless, surging propulsion of his music, but it also plays beautifully into this particular opera's narrative, which ultimately is about how trapped the characters all become by their choices. (It also creates an interesting parallel to how much text is repeated in this opera, often repeated on the same sequence of notes, as if the characters are trapped within their own cyclical thoughts at various moments.)

All of which brings us to the drama of the opera itself. I find all of the principal characters totally fascinating (except for Števa, who is a massive waste of space, and intentionally so, lol). Jenůfa's inherent optimism fascinates me; she's already had a pretty hard life even at the start of the opera; and yet by the end, when her world has TOTALLY fallen apart and it's clear that she's never, ever going to be happy with the only future available to her, she *still* insists on pretending like happiness is within reach. It would be fascinating to see how she and Laca are holding up, a few years after the opera ends. I don't think Laca will ever make Jenůfa happy, given that he literally *scars* her in the first act in an effort to gain control over her (is there any way Jenůfa is even going to trust this guy, let alone actually love him?!), and given that Laca... really doesn't seem like the type of dude who's well-equipped to help Jenůfa navigate the traumatic revelations of Act 3. And I don't think even ending up with Jenůfa will ever make Laca feel like anything more than a knife that will never sharpen; he knows he's her last resort, not someone she ever would have chosen herself, and my guess is that his insecurities over being everyone's second choice vis-à-vis his useless but charming half-brother will only continue into the future. Really heartbreaking.

Obviously, though, THE most interesting character in this entire thing is the Kostelnička! Like, I *get* why the opera isn't named for her, but REALLY!!! For one thing, I find it fascinating that throughout the opera, she's defined by her title, rather than by a personal name; and that title is, of course, a religious one (she's a female sacristan, which I absolutely didn't realize until I was reading up on things a bit, post-viewing). The Kostelnička strikes me as a very lonely, isolated figure, despite being at the center of this community (and this opera). As a religious leader, she's probably burdened with all of everyone else's nasty little secrets, and because of this, she's probably placed apart from everyone as presumably more devout and holier than they are. While she obviously places an unwarranted degree of confidence in Laca, she certainly doesn't seem at all *close* to any of her family members (none of whom are blood relations, interestingly), and I definitely was left wondering who she confides in, who is close enough to her to see her as a person rather than as an authority figure. (Note to self: Write a fic about the Kostelnička acquiring some fun gal pals who subject her to much-needed Friday evening drinks and Sex and the City marathons, now and again.) It also would be interesting to know how her arrest at the end of the opera would impact the community at large—whether it would impact people's levels of trust in the church, whether they would feel a void without her capable hand steering the ship, etc.

One thing I find particularly interesting about the Kostelnička is that there's a very consistent through-line to her warped sense of morality. I don't get the sense that she was ever a very warm stepmother to Jenůfa, but she clearly cares about her deeply, in her own super messed-up way. The Kostelnička's actions in this opera invariably end up hurting Jenůfa: imposing a draconian year-long ban on Jenůfa's marrying Števa (sorta understandable, given Števa, but also very inconvenient, given human gestation periods); then depriving Jenůfa of a child that Jenůfa genuinely loves and wants, and lying to her about what happened; then convincing Jenůfa to marry Laca (who, again, literally cut Jenůfa's face on purpose only five-ish months earlier). But all of these things are done with the intention of protecting Jenůfa, and there's a touching sort of tragedy in that fact. The Kostelnička just doesn't know how to love the most important person in her life, in a way that isn't terribly destructive for both of them. It honestly makes me want to know SO much more about her background, and what personal experiences shaped her twisted sense of what makes for a greater or lesser evil. (But I also totally respect that this opera is FAR too verismo to want to give even such an interesting character a long, self-explanatory aria... maybe this means I'll have to run down the source material play in translation, hmm.)

ANYWAY, I know I have more thoughts about this opera, but I've enthused enough here, so thank you for bearing with my excitable squeeing, as well as for your patience while I got around to typing all this up!

#jenůfa #leoš janáček #opera #opera tag #operablr #asks and answers

Leoš Janáček, Jenůfa («Mamicko, mam tezkou hlavu»). Elisabeth Söderström, soprano Sir Charles Mackerras, director

#leoš janáček #jenůfa #elisabeth söderström #sir charles mackerras

scenes that keep me up at night. if you care

#opera tag #opera #jenufa #jenůfa #janacek #leos janacek #ONE OF THE GREATEST OPERATIC SEQUENCES OF ALL FUCKING TIME. BY THE WAY #also uh. this one’s heavy. so do with that what you will #Youtube

Jenůfa at the Royal Swedish Opera

1 October 2024

The Royal Swedish Opera is one of my favorite opera houses out there. This fall, I was lucky enough to get tickets to every opera they were playing, which hasn't happened since fall 2020 - when nearly all got cancelled anyway.

One of the operas I saw was Janáček's Jenůfa, a harrowing tale of honor, love, and the art of forgiving. The production design is quite straight-forward: turn-of-the-century setting, historical costumes, backdrop and props rich in detail. The heart-wrenching music shone brightly.

I can't really find anything else to say. When it's good, it's good. Thank god I'm not a real reviewer, just a tumblr blogger who's trying to get back into habit of writing their thoughts on opera. <3

#pat reviews opera #jenůfa #janáček #royal swedish opera #this has been sitting in my drafts for months but if i don't get to writing and posting nothing will ever happen #shockingly i have now much less free time to write opera reviews than in 2020 when i watches something almost daily #I Wonder Why

Crack crossover about the Sacristan from Tosca and the Kostelnička from Jenůfa being forced to run some church's sacristy together (she is not allowed to murder him within 5 minutes of their acquaintance).