Janacek Opera Libretti

[Guest]

I have just bought the 9 CD box of Sir Charles Mackerras conducting 5 Janacek operas. The box contains only brief plot synopses and no libretti / translations. Since my Czech is non-existent, I am looking for libretti with English translations. Does anyone know of an affordable source, either digital or in print?

Michael

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jenufa-Katya-Kabanova-English-National/dp/0714540811/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1419451668&sr=1-2&keywords=the+operas+of+janacek%2C+libretti

Only two of the five here, but at under a fiver ("Used") it's certainly "affordable"!

PS - I'm presuming that, like all the ENO Guides that I know of, this has libretto and translations?! Well worth having in any case at that price: look at the essays included!

[makropulos]

I have just bought the 9 CD box of Sir Charles Mackerras conducting 5 Janacek operas. The box contains only brief plot synopses and no libretti / translations. Since my Czech is non-existent, I am looking for libretti with English translations. Does anyone know of an affordable source, either digital or in print?

Michael

This page has a free download of the libretto for Vixen: http://www.supraphon.com/en/catalogue/librettos/
Click on "Download booklet pdf" for all of the following:
Katya: https://www.chandos.net/CD_Notes.asp...er=CHAN%203145
Jenufa: https://www.chandos.net/CD_Notes.asp...er=CHAN%203106
Makropulos: https://www.chandos.net/details06.as...er=CHAN%203138

And enjoy the operas!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Oh, Bravo, makro!

[makropulos]

Oh, Bravo, makro!

Why thank you :)

I think if you create an account, you can also get the Decca Czech/English libretto of From the House of the Dead here:

http://deccaopera.pushexp.com/en/release-detail/?id=73

And I think that's all the operas in the Mackerras box. Decca has got much better at these things recently, offering links to free PDFs of all the Rachmaninov sung texts, for instance.

For the truly wonderful Mackerras recording of Osud, a) it's in English already and b) the libretto can also be downloaded free from the Chandos site.

[MickyD]

This is a major reason why I've resisted getting this box from Decca...talk about spoiling the ship for a ha'porth of tar. I'm sure most people would pay a bit more to have the libretti included.

[DoctorT]

Thank you all! I shall explore these links later. And a Happy Christmas to everyone,

[Petrushka]

Bought myself the 50 years of the Grosses Festspielhaus Salzburg boxed set for Christmas and there's 5 operas contained therein all without libretti which I'll have to start sourcing. One of them is an Abbado performance of Janacek's From the House of the Dead so thanks to this thread I can make a start.

[MrBear]

Why thank you :)

I think if you create an account, you can also get the Decca Czech/English libretto of From the House of the Dead here:

http://deccaopera.pushexp.com/en/release-detail/?id=73

And I think that's all the operas in the Mackerras box. Decca has got much better at these things recently, offering links to free PDFs of all the Rachmaninov sung texts, for instance.

For the truly wonderful Mackerras recording of Osud, a) it's in English already and b) the libretto can also be downloaded free from the Chandos site.

I am also put off by those wonky sleeves was the graphic designer drunk while they did it or just unoriginal I think it puts me buying off more than lack of libretto.
These days I will often use my smart phone for loooking at the libretto and hardly even look at cd sleeves just assuming they are a waste of time.

Aswell as Chandos I find Hyperion good for libretto as you can download thier cd booklets even old stuff they have solds out of and the cheap rereleses look good and sound good.