Wednesday, February 07, 2007

A Czechoslovakian Tragedy

Janácek JENUFA, Met 6.2.2007; Belohlávek; Mattila, Silja, Begley, Silvasti. A pregnant teenager + a scoundrel of a boyfriend + a bully + Catholicism + an extra evil stepmother = Jenufa = a stunned and weepy SarahB. I was overwhelmed by this production. The music was subtle and beautiful, the voices even more so. I was expecting fierceness from all, but really only Silja delivered here. Mattila played the title role Jenufa completely sympathetically. I really believed that Jenufa's heart was broken. I saw many simililarities to last season's An American Tragedy. Like Tragedy, I found it also to be very theatrical. The diminished set and lack of the typical costumes worked, seeming to further emphasize the sadness of the events taking place. The story was not farfetched as in many operas but still had that profound sense of tragedy that so many opera stories have. I couldn't believe how good Mattila and Silja was. I knew they would be good, but not THIS GOOD. I told Sally to sign me up for all future Mattila performances. There are several more performances of Jenufa scheduled and I am scheming to get back for another.

1 comment:

tasb89 said...

Come see the matinee with us on the 17th!!