Leo Janacek's masterpiece tells a tale of passion,
betrayal, and the transfiguring power of love. Conducted by Andrew Davis.
Janacek's masterpiece Jenufa, captured in this 1989 Glyndebourne
Festival Opera production, is among the most revived modernist works. Compared
with much grand opera, the story of one woman's struggle to rise free from
social constraints at a terrible cost is remarkably poignant, credible, and
accessible. Scenes are short and intense. The music shimmers with Janacek's
characteristic blend of sweetness and sharp dissonance. Tragedy is inevitable,
but here, unusually, hope triumphs. In the title role, Roberta Alexander is
utterly convincing as the stepdaughter of the Kostelnicka Buryja, placing her
love and trust in the wrong man, with dire consequences. As the Kostelnicka,
Anja Silja turns in an equally towering performance, unraveling with the awful
consequences of her pragmatism. Alexander's fluid soprano reveals the
extraordinary beauty of some of Janacek's finest arias: the moment when she
becomes supernaturally aware of her baby's fate and is actually singing
prayers for its soul is quite overwhelming. This Jenufa is sung splendidly, a
revelation of the essential humanity that lurks at the heart of the greatest
operas. --Piers Ford