BaL 21.05.22 - Janacek: Jenufa

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

9.30am
Janacek’s Jenufa in Building a Library with Nigel Simeone


Available versions:-

Mette Ejsing, Miroslav Dvorský, Nikolai Schukoff, Deborah Polaski, Amanda Roocroft, Károly Szemerédy, Miguel Sola, Marta Ubieta, Teatro Real, Ivor Bolton, Stéphane Braunschweig (DVD/Blu-ray)

Ivo Zídek, Jaroslava Procházková, Anna Rousková, Jindrich Jindrak, Nadezda Kniplová, Zdenek Kroupa, Libuse Domaninska, Helena Tattermuschkova, Vilém Pribyl, Marie Mrázová, Marta Bohácová, Eva Hlobilová, Bozena Effenberková, Slavka Prochazkova, Orchestra Of The National Theatre Prague, Chorus of The National Theatre, Prague. Bohumil Gregor *

Karita Mattila, Anja Silja, Eva Randová, Jerry Hadley, Jorma Silvasti, Jonathan Veira, Leah-Marian Jones, Elizabeth Sikora, Rebecca Nash, Gail Pearson, Chorus & Orchestra of Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Bernard Haitink *

Gitta-Maria Sjöberg, Erika Sunnegårdh, Daniel Frank, Ingrid Tobiasson, Joachim Bäckström, Per Høyer, Orchestra and Chorus of The Malmö Opera, Marko Ivanovic (DVD)

Anna Barová, Vilém Přibyl, Vladimír Krejčík, Chœur & Orchestre de l'Opéra Janáček de Brno, František Jílek

Iris Vermillion, Gal James, Dunja Vejzovic, Ales Briscein, Taylan Reinhard, David McShane, Konstantin Sfiris, Stefanie Hierlmeier, Tatjana Miyus, Fran Lubahn, Xiaoyi Xu, Nazanin Ezazi, Hana Batinic, Istvan Szecsi, Choir of the Graz Opera & Graz Philharmonic Orchestra, Dirk Kaftan

Trude Eipperle, Margarete Klose, Julius Katona, Wilhelm Otto, Choir of the Städtische Oper Köln & Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, Richard Kraus

Janice Watson, Josephine Barstow , Nigel Robson, Peter Wedd, Elizabeth Vaughan, Neal Davies, Welsh National Opera, Sir Charles Mackerras

Elisabeth Söderström, Jana Jonasova, Jindra Pokorna, Ivana Mixova, Peter Dvorsky, Lucia Popp, Marie Mrazova, Eva Randová, Vera Soukupova, Dalibor Jedlicka, Vaclav Zitek, Wieslaw Ochman, Wiener Philharmoniker, Wiener Staatsoper, Sir Charles Mackerras *

Anny Schlemm, Christel Goltz, Rosl Zapf, Ernst Kozub, Gerald McKee, Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester, Chorus of the Frankfurt State Opera, Lovro von Matacic

Wieslaw Ochman, Gabriela Benackova-Cap, Leonie Rysanek, Peter Kazaras, Barbara Schramm, Katherine Johnson, Kenneth Shaw , Maro Partamian, Ariel Rubstein, Frank Barr, Kathryn Cowdrick, Nikki Li Hartliep, New York Opera Orchestra, Eve Queler

Camilla Nylund, Evelyn Herlitzius, Stuart Skelton, Ladislav Elgr, Hanna Schwarz, Jan Martiník, Staatskapelle Berlin, Sir Simon Rattle (DVD/Blu-ray)

Michaela Kaune, Jennifer Larmore, Will Hartmann, Ladislav Elgr, Hanna Schwarz, Orchestra and Chorus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Donald Runnicles (DVD/Blu-ray)

Stepanka Jelinkova, Marta Krasova, Beno Blachut, Ivo Zidek, Milada Cadikovicova, Vladimir Jedenactik, Ludmila Hanzalikova, Miloslava Fidlerova, Marie Vesela, Karel Kalas, Milada Musilova, Milada Subrtova, Prague National Theatre Chorus, Prague National Theatre Orchestra, Jaroslav Vogel

* = download only

[makropulos]

Another great list. Can I make a plea for you to add the Jílek/Brno version which is still available from Supraphon as both CD and download (oddly it's not listed by Presto, but Amazon have new copies in stock). I am going to be talking about it on this BAL so it would be nice to have it here too. Details here:

https://www.supraphon.com/album/2637-janacek-jenufa-opera-in-3-acts

[Darloboy]

The first time this work has ever been covered by BaL. I’m surprised to see there are so many recordings. I’ve had Mackerras’s Vienna recording for 30 years and never felt the need for another, although I’d appreciate a DVD recommendation.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Another great list. Can I make a plea for you to add the Jílek/Brno version which is still available from Supraphon as both CD and download (oddly it's not listed by Presto, but Amazon have new copies in stock). I am going to be talking about it on this BAL so it would be nice to have it here too. Details here:
https://www.supraphon.com/album/2637...pera-in-3-acts

Thank you for the info. I've updated the list accordingly.
(Vinteuil has helped me with the various East European accents above the letters...)

[Darloboy]

I haven't come across Dirk Kaftan before. Great name - sounds like a character from Toast.

[RichardB]

I shall be very interested to find out more about this, because I don't know Jenufa well at all, and what I do know of it didn't make immediate contact with me as did LJ's later operas. I do have the Mackerras (Vienna) recording but I can't remember the last time I listened to it.

[Pulcinella]

Have we ever had an opera villains and evil people thread?
Plenty of contenders, but for me Kostelnička would be way up there, even though (spoiler alert!) she would claim to have acted in Jenůfa's best interests by killing the baby.
Chilling stuff indeed (and I'm not just talking about the ice).

I've seen several fine productions but have only the Mackerras Decca set in my collection. I'm amazed that it's now download only.

PS: It's far too late to start regretting not having kept better records of concerts/operas/plays I've seen, and I certainly didn't always buy the programmes, but I did discover the programme booklet for one of the performances of Jenufa that I've seen: WNO, 9 October 1998, Oxford, conducted by Daniel Harding.

[Retune]

I wonder if there's any chance of a DVD/BD release of last year's ROH production? (Asmik Grigorian, Karita Mattila, Henrik Nánási). I've only seen clips and the stream is no longer available.

[makropulos]

I wonder if there's any chance of a DVD/BD release of last year's ROH production? (Asmik Grigorian, Karita Mattila, Henrik Nánási). I've only seen clips and the stream is no longer available.

I believe there's been talk of a DVD release in due course. I do hope so –from a musical point of view it was very fine indeed, whatever reservations I might have about the production.

[Master Jacques]

I know makropulos admires this recording, which is available on a recent Radio Servis CD issue from various outlets, and am only sorry I've got in too late to mention it:

Libuše Domanínská (Jenůfa), Marie Steinerová (Kostelnička), Soňa Červená (Grandmother), Antonín Jurečka (Laca), Jaroslav Ulrych (Števa), Vlastimil Šíma (Foreman), Rudolf Asmus (Mayor), Chorus of Brno State Theatre, Brno Radio Symphony Orchestra, c. Břetislav Bakala. (With The Diary of One Who Disappeared: Soňa Červená (Zefka), Josef Válka (Janíček), Female chamber choir, Břetislav Bakala piano. RadioServis CR1037-2 (two CDs)

Domanínská (here, though not for Gregor nearly two decades later) is for me the best Jenůfa on disc, and Bakala's conducting is a unique distillation of fire and ice. With the other two female leads marvellously done and two serviceable tenors, both terrific from the acting if not the singing point of view, this recording is something of a must-have for fans of this opera, even though of course it doesn't use the original orchestration.

Otherwise, a splendidly fair and honest BAL, with an unimpeachable conclusion - thank you!

[Lordgeous]

A great and informative BAL. I didn't know Jenufa at all, now I know something! Also reminded me what a loss Mackerras is to our musical life. All those wonderful recordings with the Scottish Chamber Orrchestra for example. And intereesting how many of his recordings, like in today's BAL, remain top choices.

[Bryn]

I know makropulos admires this recording, which is available on a recent Radio Servis CD issue from various outlets, and am only sorry I've got in too late to mention it:

Libuše Domanínská (Jenůfa), Marie Steinerová (Kostelnička), Soňa Červená (Grandmother), Antonín Jurečka (Laca), Jaroslav Ulrych (Števa), Vlastimil Šíma (Foreman), Rudolf Asmus (Mayor), Chorus of Brno State Theatre, Brno Radio Symphony Orchestra, c. Břetislav Bakala. (With The Diary of One Who Disappeared: Soňa Červená (Zefka), Josef Válka (Janíček), Female chamber choir, Břetislav Bakala piano. RadioServis CR1037-2 (two CDs)

Domanínská (here, though not for Gregor nearly two decades later) is for me the best Jenůfa on disc, and Bakala's conducting is a unique distillation of fire and ice. With the other two female leads marvellously done and two serviceable tenors, both terrific from the acting if not the singing point of view, this recording is something of a must-have for fans of this opera, even though of course it doesn't use the original orchestration.

Otherwise, a splendidly fair and honest BAL, with an unimpeachable conclusion - thank you!

See http://www.for3.org/forums/showthrea...311#post633311 et seq.

[Master Jacques]

See http://www.for3.org/forums/showthrea...311#post633311 et seq.

Yes indeed, thank you - I hadn't realised there was a thread on the CRQ Editions MP3 Bakala compilation disc, which is indeed a tremendous bargain. This Jenůfa is, as far as I know, the only one of these Bakala Brno opera broadcasts to make it to official, commercial CD release - and it is beautifully engineered by Radio Servis too. (Not that the CRQ compilation falls short in that regard, either.)

[ardcarp]

I don't know Jenufa well. So completely different from The Cunning Little Vixen, which I've seen twice. I was therefore very interested in this BAL which, given the usual limited time, gave some detail of the plot. However, I would have liked more detail of the 're-orchestratiom' done by one of the early conductors.* Can anyone, briefly, explain what was done, why, and which version is generally used in a modern production?

*Shades of the Bruckner situation.

[makropulos]

Sorry if I didn’t explain it clearly this morning. Pressures of time and all that. Modern productions almost all use the Mackerras/Tyrrell edition of the 1908 version. I did illustrate the most extreme example of the 1916 reorchestration in the final scene. But though there are many differences of detail - and 1908 definitely to be preferred - the substance of the opera is the same in 1916 and some of the greatest performances (Vogel et al) use it.