Glyndebourne On Tour 2009
Jenufa by Leoš Janácek
A revival of the 1989 Festival production
Sung in Czech with English supertitles
‘Foreshadowings and unresolved pedals, and endless orchestral tension, prepare the way for the massive, joyous release of the ending – as simply powerful and moving an experience as the theatre has to offer.’
The Times, 2004
A shocking tale of misdirected love, violent jealousy, moral cowardice and desperate infanticide, Janácek’s Jenufa was 10 years in the making – and the finished score was, the composer said, ‘bound with the black ribbon of the long illness, pain and sighing of my daughter Olga’, to whom he played the work as she lay dying. Yet, thanks to its blazing musical inspiration, the opera delivers an overwhelmingly positive message about the redemptive power of human forgiveness and the miraculous potential for personal growth through seemingly unbearable suffering. Premiered in provincial Brno when Janácek was already in his 50th year, Jenufa took another dozen years before its belated Prague premiere in 1916 finally brought the Moravian composer the international attention he deserved and launched the glorious Indian summer of his last 12 years.
Nikolaus Lehnhoff’s powerfully claustrophobic production was first seen at Glyndebourne in 1989. Its latest revival is conducted by Robin Ticciati, marking his third season as Music Director of Glyndebourne on Tour, with the Belfast-born soprano Giselle Allen making her company debut in the title role and Anne Mason as her fatally over-protective stepmother.
The performance lasts approximately 2 hours and 25 minutes including a 20 minute interval.
Opera in three acts by Leoš Janácek, libretto by the composer, based on the play, Její Pastorkýna by Gabriela Preissová. Performed in the Brno version, edited by Sir Charles Mackerras and John Tyrrell, as premiered at the Glyndebourne Festival on 19 May 1989 by arrangement with Universal
Performance schedule
* = Pre-performance talk available. Go to venue information for details.
Creative Team
Conductor Robin Ticciati
Director Nikolaus Lehnhoff
Revival Director Daniel Dooner
Designer Tobias Hoheisel
Lighting Designer Paul Hastie
Cast includes
Jenufa Giselle Allen
Kostelnicka Buryjovka Anne Mason
Laca Klemen Peter Wedd
Števa Buryja Pavel Cernoch
Grandmother Buryjovka Susan Gorton
Glyndebourne on Tour Orchestra
The Glyndebourne Chorus