Janáček’s penultimate opera takes up the basic storyline, characters and situations of Čapek’s renowned “philosophical comedy” about the desire for immortality, as well as the weariness and fear it engenders. The composer also follows Čapek’s trajectory in the comedic bustle around the central character, the singer Emilia Marty. Janáček’s independent and unmistakable input is the foregrounding of the erotic relationships and the story’s erotic atmosphere in general. He captivates through precise empathising with a woman who despite all the cynicism accumulated during her three-hundred-year life still longs for love, sense and fulfilment, and envies the mortals who are able – perhaps naively – to believe in these “ordinary things”. For her portrayal of the lead role, Gun-Brit Barkmin won the Director’s Prize at the Opera 2009 festival.
“The German soprano Gun-Brit Barkmin performed the role of Emilia Marty in an engrossing, dramatic manner, in all the necessary expressive breadth. Her vocal and acting skills enable her to imbue the character with a significant degree of naturalistic forcibility."
Hospodářské noviny, Petr Veber, 22. 12. 2008
“Alden’s conception of Janáček’s The Makropulos Case chimes with our contemporary world more than it would seem.”
Respekt, Magdalena Platzová, 5. 1. 2009
Orchestra and Chorus of the National Theatre Opera.
A co-production with the English National Opera, London
Special Thanks American Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic www.amcham.cz
Photo: Hana Smejkalová
Duration of the performance: 2 hours and 15 minutes
Conductor: Tomáš Hanus
Director: Christopher Alden
Co-Director: Peter Littlefield
Stage design: Charles Edwards
Costumes: Sue Willmington
Lights: Adam Silverman
Chorus master: Martin Buchta
Dramaturgy: Beno Blachut