By MONA DAY
Leos Janáèek’s “Jenùfa,” which premiered on Jan. 21, 1904, is verismo drama, based on a shocking headline grabbing plot: the murder of an infant.
Its social criticism of a rural society dominated by social and religious prejudice, gender and class inequality and the self-righteousness of an elder; but the criticism is redeemed by the maturity, forgiveness, compassion of the victim heroine.
The opera, which took 10 years for Janáèek to write, broke new ground and was the turning point in his career. For example, previous opera had used the language of the courts and aristocracy — German and Italian, but Janáèek used the Czech vernacular. Similarly, earlier composers like Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven had used folk music mainly for amusing diversionary relief in the complex sophisticated art form of opera, but Janáèek uses Moravian folk music as its core. Also innovative is the use of the xylophone in the orchestra to represent the turning of the mill wheel.
A production of the Metropolitan Opera, “Jenùfa” is sung in Czech with English supertitles. Karita Mattila is cast in the title role.
“Jenùfa” plays at the Music Center from Sept. 27 to Oct. 13.
For tickets and more information, call (213) 972-8001 or visit www.LAOpera.com.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 28, 2007. Read the original PDF.