20. 11. 2024, 7 p.m.

Mahen Theatre

Author: Leoš Janáček

Conductor: Anna Novotná Pešková

Director: Veronika Kos Loulová

Ensemble: Moravian Theatre Olomouc

Co-production: Janáček Opera of the National Theatre Brno

 

First version (1904) in the Mark Audus edition.

The production is produced in cooperation with the organization Úsměv mámy.

 

Other dates of performance: 21.11. at 7 p.m.

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Act 1
The beautiful Jenůfa waits, fearing that her beloved Števa has been taken off to join the army. She is expecting his child and his departure would jeopardise the forthcoming marriage. Števa’s stepbrother Laca also carries a flame for Jenůfa and asks her about Števa. The delighted Števa arrives with his friends and musicians at the mill – he had not been taken away and, together with the other recruits, celebrate their fortune with drink. Jenůfa’s strict guardian Kostelnička sees the riotous company with Števa in front of them all she announces that she would only give her consent for a marriage between Jenůfa and Števa after a probation year, during which Števa would not be allowed to drink. Laca convinces Jenůfa that Števa loves her only because of her beauty, and during the argument he cuts her face with a knife.

Act 2
In fear of disgrace Kostelnička hides Jenůfa in her home and claims to everybody that she has left for Vienna. In the meantime Jenůfa has given birth to a son. Whilst Jenůfa is sleeping, Kostelnička humbles herself before Števa and begs him to marry Jenůfa. For Števa, however, Jenůfa’s scarred face has rendered her ugly and besides, he is already engaged to the daughter of the Mayor. Laca arrives and asks Kostelnička to hand over Jenůfa to him. When Kostelnička gives away the secret to him that Jenůfa had given birth to Števa’s child, he is shocked. Seeing his doubts, Kostelnička in desperation lies that the child had died immediately after the birth. As soon as Laca leaves, Kostelnička drowns the child in an icy river and convinces Jenůfa that she had slept for several days in a fever and the little boy had died in the meantime. The devastated Jenůfa agrees to a marriage with Laco.

Act 3
During the preparations for the wedding between Jenůfa and Laca the news breaks out that a dead child had been found in the river. Jenůfa recognises her little boy’s bonnet and the suspicion of murder falls upon her. Kostelnička admits her crime in front of the assembled guests. Before the Mayor leads her off to court, Jenůfa forgives her, for she understands that she did it out of love for her. Jenůfa does not believe that Laca would still want her and sends him away. Laca however wants to stay by her side and promises that he would be with her even in the bad times. Jenůfa realises that she has found her true love „and God is pleased with it“.

Director: Veronika Kos Loulová
Musical Study: Anna Novotná Pešková
Conductor: Anna Novotná Pešková
Dramaturgy: Marta Ljubková
Scene: Irina Moscu
Costumes: Irina Moscu
Lights: Fiammetta Baldiserri
Choirmaster: Michael Dvořák
Assistant to the Conductor: Anna Svoboda
Musical Preparation: Milada Jedličková, Lucie Kaucká

 

Cast:

Jenůfa – Barbora Perná
Kostelnička – Eliška Gattringerová
Laca Klemeň –  Josef Moravec
Števa Buryja – Raman Hasymau
Grandmother Buryjovka – Sylva Čmugrová
Stárek – Jiří Přibyl
Karolka – Helena Beránková / Kateřina Popová
Barena – Anna Moriová

This timeless, chilling story from the Moravian countryside about jealousy, forgiveness and hope is to be performed by members of the ensemble from the Moravian Theatre Olomouc in a co-production with National Theatre Brno as part of the Janáček Brno festival. The all-female staging team headed by director Veronika Kos Loulová is to present Jenůfa in its original version from 1904. This year, Jenůfa is celebrating the one hundred and twentieth anniversary of its premiere. This new staging is to provide an updated perspective on this world-famous operatic drama – the bitter fate of Jenůfa the creator is to be connected, among other things, with authentic testimonies of women for whom, for various reasons, the birth of a child was not to be a joyful event from the beginning.

The production team has decided to present the opera under the name Jenůfa (rather than its original title Her Stepdaughter), first and foremost to place the emphasis on the main protagonist (which is why her name should be heard straight from the beginning), while it is also the version of the title that is used for this work abroad.

One of the essential and timeless topics of life that Janáček opens up for us is the question of motherhood. The birth of a child is generally perceived as the beginning of the most beautiful period of life, but when combined with depression or anxiety it can turn into a terrifying nightmare. At the instigation of Director of the Moravian Theatre David Gerneš, the theatre turned to the organisation A Mother’s Smile, which provides professional help for women with postpartum depression and other psychological problems associated with motherhood, during the creation of the concept of the production.

Marta Ljubková