Jenufa
Encyclopedia
Jenůfa is an opera
in three acts by Leoš Janáček
to a Czech libretto
by the composer, based on the play
Její pastorkyňa by Gabriela Preissová
. It was first performed at the Brno Theater
, Brno
, 21 January 1904. It was written between 1896 and 1902, and counts among the first operas written in prose.
The first of Janáček's operas in which his distinctive voice can clearly be heard, it is a grim story of infanticide
and redemption. Like the playwright's original work, it is known for its unsentimental realism. While today it is heard in the composer
's original version, Jenůfas early popularity was fostered by a revision by Karel Kovařovic
of what was considered its eccentric style and orchestration
. Thus altered, it was well-received, first in Prague
, and particularly after its Vienna
première also worldwide. More than 70 years were to pass before audiences heard it as Janáček had intended it to be performed.
Janáček wrote an overture to the opera, but decided not to use it. It was partly based on a song called Žárlivec (The jealous man). It is now performed as a concert piece under the title Žárlivost (Jealousy), JW 6/10.
The composer dedicated the work to the memory of his dead daughter Olga, as he also did with his choral composition called the Elegy on the Death of Daughter Olga
.
The plot depends on a tangled set of village relationships. Before the opera begins, the mill-owner Grandmother Buryja's two sons have both married twice, fathered children, and died. Their wives have also died, except for the Kostelnička (widow of the churchwarden), the younger son's second wife and Jenůfa's stepmother. Custom dictates that only Števa, the elder son's child by his first marriage, will inherit the mill, leaving his half-brother Laca and cousin Jenůfa to earn their livings.
The foreman tells the family the news that Števa has not been drafted after all, to Jenůfa's relief and Laca's increased frustration. The others leave, and Jenůfa waits by herself to greet Števa. He appears with a group of soldiers, extremely drunk and boasting of his prowess with the girls. He calls for music and drags the miserable Jenůfa into dancing with him.
The Kostelnička steps into this rowdy scene, silences the musicians and, shocked by Števa's behavior, forbids him to marry Jenůfa until he can stay sober for one full year. The soldiers and the family leave Števa and Jenůfa alone, and she begs him to love her, but he, unaware of her pregnancy, gives her casual answers and leaves.
Laca returns, as bitter as ever. He attempts to goad Jenůfa into criticizing Števa, but she takes her lover's side despite everything. Laca rages that Števa would never even look at her if it weren't for her rosy cheeks, then slashes her across the cheek with his knife.
Števa leaves, and Laca enters. He still doesn't know the truth about the baby, and when the Kostelnička tells him, his first reaction is disgust at the thought of taking Števa's child under his wing. Fearful that Jenůfa will be left with no one to marry, Kostelnička hastily lies that the baby is dead. Laca leaves, and the Kostelnička is faced with the necessity of making the lie true. She wraps the baby in a shawl and leaves the house.
Jenůfa wakes up and says a prayer for her child's future, but the Kostelnička, returning, tells her that the baby died while she slept. Laca appears and comforts Jenůfa gently, asking that they spend the rest of their lives together. Seeing the tenderness of the couple, the Kostelnička tries to convince herself that she has acted for the best.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
in three acts by Leoš Janáček
Leoš Janácek
Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
to a Czech libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by the composer, based on the play
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
Její pastorkyňa by Gabriela Preissová
Gabriela Preissová
Gabriela Preissová, née Gabriela Sekerová, sometimes used pen name Matylda Dumontová , was a Czech writer and playwright. Her play Její pastorkyňa was the basis for the opera Jenůfa by Leoš Janáček...
. It was first performed at the Brno Theater
National Theatre (Brno)
The National Theatre in Brno is the major theatre house in Brno. It was established in 1884 by model of the National Theatre in Prague.Nowadays it consists of three stages:...
, Brno
Brno
Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...
, 21 January 1904. It was written between 1896 and 1902, and counts among the first operas written in prose.
The first of Janáček's operas in which his distinctive voice can clearly be heard, it is a grim story of infanticide
Infanticide
Infanticide or infant homicide is the killing of a human infant. Neonaticide, a killing within 24 hours of a baby's birth, is most commonly done by the mother.In many past societies, certain forms of infanticide were considered permissible...
and redemption. Like the playwright's original work, it is known for its unsentimental realism. While today it is heard in the composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
's original version, Jenůfas early popularity was fostered by a revision by Karel Kovařovic
Karel Kovarovic
Karel Kovařovic was a Czech composer and conductor.-Life:From 1873 to 1879 he studied clarinet, harp and piano at the Prague Conservatory. He began his career as a harpist...
of what was considered its eccentric style and orchestration
Orchestration
Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra or of adapting for orchestra music composed for another medium...
. Thus altered, it was well-received, first in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, and particularly after its Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
première also worldwide. More than 70 years were to pass before audiences heard it as Janáček had intended it to be performed.
Janáček wrote an overture to the opera, but decided not to use it. It was partly based on a song called Žárlivec (The jealous man). It is now performed as a concert piece under the title Žárlivost (Jealousy), JW 6/10.
The composer dedicated the work to the memory of his dead daughter Olga, as he also did with his choral composition called the Elegy on the Death of Daughter Olga
Elegy on the Death of Daughter Olga
Elegy on the Death of Daughter Olga, JW 4/30 is a cantata for tenor solo, mixed choir and pianoforte, written by the Czech composer Leoš Janáček in 1903. It was written to commemorate the death of composer's daughter, Olga Janáčková...
.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 21 January 1904 (Conductor: C. M. Hrazdira) |
|---|---|---|
| Jenůfa | soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... |
Marie Kabeláčová |
| Laca Klemeň | tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... |
Alois Staněk-Doubravský |
| Števa Buryja | tenor | Bohdan Procházka |
| Kostelnička Buryjovka | soprano | Leopoldina Hanusová-Svobodová |
| Grandmother Buryjovka | Contralto Contralto Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above... |
Věra Pivoňková |
| Stárek, the Mill foreman | Baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or... |
Karel Benýško |
| Mayor | Bass | Alois Pivoňka |
| Mayor's wife | mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above... |
Ema Kučerová |
| Karolka | mezzo-soprano | Růžena Kasperová |
| Chorus:Recruits, servants, girls, villagers, musicians | ||
Synopsis
- Place: A MoraviaMoraviaMoravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
n village - Time: the nineteenth century
The plot depends on a tangled set of village relationships. Before the opera begins, the mill-owner Grandmother Buryja's two sons have both married twice, fathered children, and died. Their wives have also died, except for the Kostelnička (widow of the churchwarden), the younger son's second wife and Jenůfa's stepmother. Custom dictates that only Števa, the elder son's child by his first marriage, will inherit the mill, leaving his half-brother Laca and cousin Jenůfa to earn their livings.
Act 1
Jenůfa, Laca, and Grandmother Buryja wait for Števa to return home. Jenůfa, in love with Števa and secretly pregnant with his child, worries that he may have been drafted into the army. Laca, in love with Jenůfa, expresses bitterness against his half-brother's favored position at home. As he complains he plays with a knife and, finding it blunt, gives it to the mill foreman to be sharpened.The foreman tells the family the news that Števa has not been drafted after all, to Jenůfa's relief and Laca's increased frustration. The others leave, and Jenůfa waits by herself to greet Števa. He appears with a group of soldiers, extremely drunk and boasting of his prowess with the girls. He calls for music and drags the miserable Jenůfa into dancing with him.
The Kostelnička steps into this rowdy scene, silences the musicians and, shocked by Števa's behavior, forbids him to marry Jenůfa until he can stay sober for one full year. The soldiers and the family leave Števa and Jenůfa alone, and she begs him to love her, but he, unaware of her pregnancy, gives her casual answers and leaves.
Laca returns, as bitter as ever. He attempts to goad Jenůfa into criticizing Števa, but she takes her lover's side despite everything. Laca rages that Števa would never even look at her if it weren't for her rosy cheeks, then slashes her across the cheek with his knife.
Act 2
Months later, it is winter. The baby has been born, but Števa has not yet come to visit his child. Jenůfa's face is still disfigured, but she is happy in her love for the baby. While Jenůfa sleeps, the Kostelnička summons Števa and demands that he take responsibility. He answers that while he will provide money in secret, no one must know the baby is his. His love for Jenůfa died when Laca spoiled her beauty, and he is now engaged to marry Karolka, the mayor's pretty daughter.Števa leaves, and Laca enters. He still doesn't know the truth about the baby, and when the Kostelnička tells him, his first reaction is disgust at the thought of taking Števa's child under his wing. Fearful that Jenůfa will be left with no one to marry, Kostelnička hastily lies that the baby is dead. Laca leaves, and the Kostelnička is faced with the necessity of making the lie true. She wraps the baby in a shawl and leaves the house.
Jenůfa wakes up and says a prayer for her child's future, but the Kostelnička, returning, tells her that the baby died while she slept. Laca appears and comforts Jenůfa gently, asking that they spend the rest of their lives together. Seeing the tenderness of the couple, the Kostelnička tries to convince herself that she has acted for the best.
Act 3
It is now spring, and Laca and Jenůfa's wedding day. All seems right again, except that the Kostelnička is a nervous wreck. Števa and Karolka visit, and a chorus of village girls sings a wedding song. Just then, screams are heard. The body of the baby has been discovered in the mill-stream under the melting ice. Jenůfa immediately says that the baby is hers, and in her grief appears guilty of the murder. The village is ready to exact immediate justice against Jenůfa, but the Kostelnička calms them and says that the crime is hers. Hearing the whole story, Jenůfa forgives her stepmother. The crowd takes the Kostelnička off to jail. Jenůfa and Laca are left alone.Recordings
- Leoš JanáčekLeoš JanácekLeoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
: Jenůfa – Soňa ČervenáSoňa ČervenáSoňa Červená is a Czech operatic mezzo-soprano who had an active international career since the 1950s. She has enjoyed particularly lengthy and fruitful associations with the Frankfurt Opera and the San Francisco Opera...
(Mezzo-soprano), Sena JurinacSena JurinacSena Jurinac Sena (Srebrenka) Jurinac Sena (Srebrenka) Jurinac ([juˈrinats] (24 October 192122 November 2011) was a Bosnian Croat/Austrian operatic soprano.Born in Travnik, Bosnia-Herzegovina, she studied at the Zagreb Academy of Music, and also with Milka Kostrenčić (whose other well-known...
(Soprano), Willard White (Bass), Elisabeth Söderström (Soprano), John del Carlo (Baritone), Gwendolyn Jones (Mezzo Soprano), Sara Ganz (Soprano), Susan Quittmeyer (Mezzo Soprano), Pamela South (Soprano), William LewisWilliam Lewis (tenor)William L. Lewis is an American operatic tenor and academic.-Biography:William Lewis was educated at the University of Colorado, Texas Christian University and New York University. He began his career as a writer and an athlete before deciding to pursue a career in opera...
(Tenor); San Francisco OperaSan Francisco OperaSan Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America...
Orchestra and Chorus. Recorded at the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, October 1, 1980. Label: Gala - Leoš JanáčekLeoš JanácekLeoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
: Jenůfa – Magda OliveroMagda OliveroMagda Olivero is a soprano of the verismo-school of singing. She was born in Saluzzo, Italy. Olivero made her operatic debut in 1932 on Turin radio in Cattozzo’s oratorio I misteri dolorosi. She performed widely and increasingly successfully until 1941, when she married and retired from performing...
(Mezzo-soprano), Jeda Valtriani (S), Nicola Zaccaria (Bass), Margherita Benetti (Soprano), Giuseppe Morresi (Baritone), Grace Bumbry (Mezzo Soprano), Maria Grazia Allegri (Soprano), Nella Verri (Mezzo Soprano), Silvana Zanolli (Soprano), Renato Cioni (tenor), Jerzy Semkow (Conductor); La ScalaLa ScalaLa Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
Orchestra and Chorus. Recorded at the Teatro alla Scala, Milano, 1974. Label: Myto
External links
- Gavin Plumley's Leoš Janáček site, information on Jenůfa
- Synopsis of Jenůfa from the English Touring OperaEnglish Touring OperaEnglish Touring Opera is an opera company in the United Kingdom. From 1979 to 1992 it was known as Opera 80.- About the company :Opera 80 was founded in 1979 by the Arts Council of Great Britain as the successor to Opera For All; in 1992 the company changed its name to English Touring Opera...