THE NEW MARIA CALLAS?
Royal Opera House, London WC2 (020-7304 4000). Until 26 February Running time: 2hrs 15mins
His Czech contemporaries would be astonished to discover that Leoš Janácek would one day be viewed as one of the greatest opera composers of the 20th century, said Jan Smaczny in The Guardian. Until the hugely successful Prague premiere of Jenufa in 1916, when the composer was 61, he was very much a neglected outsider – seen as a “wild and woolly ‘backwoodsman’” from the eastern region of Moravia. Today, though, Janácek’s stock is higher than ever. His dark, pessimistic operas can “shock, even wound, but they are often ravishingly beautiful, powerfully emotive and, above all, true”. They are recognised, a century on, for the “masterpieces” they are, said Richard Fairman in the FT. And over the next few weeks, no fewer than three UK companies are presenting stagings of one of his greatest works, Katya Kabanova.
Scottish Opera’s staging has yet to open, while Opera North has revived Tim Albery’s 2007 version, which is a “satisfactory” evening rather than a “great” one, said Michael Tanner in The Spectator. But press night for the “miraculous” new production of Katya at the Royal Opera House was quite simply “one of the greatest operatic experiences of my life”. Director Richard Jones is at his most “relevantly inventive”. Conductor Edward Gardner makes a sensational and long overdue Covent Garden main-stage debut. And another Royal Opera debutant, Amanda Majeski, performs the title role – of a woman trapped in a loveless marriage within a hypocritically devout society – with such “commitment and accuracy” that she should be “besieged by casting moguls” forthwith. Her brilliance as both actor and singer brought to mind Callas. And her mastery of the difficult third act – a prolonged mad scene – “suggest that she is a great Butterfly in the making”.
If there is a more compelling solo performance on the operatic stage this year than Majeski’s in this Katya, then “I will need a new stock of superlatives”, agreed Richard Morrison in The Times. The American soprano is also superbly supported by a large cast of “characterful British singers”. And Gardner conducts with a vivid sense of the music’s aching tenderness and pain, said Rupert Christiansen in The Daily Telegraph. Snap up a ticket if you can.
CD of the week Mercury Rev: Bobbie Gentry’s The Delta Sweete Revisited
Bella Union (£10.99) Gentry’s The Delta Sweete (1968) was unheralded at the time, but has quietly become a cult classic revered by other musicians. Among those superfans are Mercury Rev, and their remake, with collaborators including Norah Jones and Lucinda Williams, is an unexpected joy (Sunday Times).