FLORENCE: Brno, december 18th, 1926: the “première” of Janáček‘s opera Věc Makropulos was something more than one year before the composer’s death, at the end of a sober life, lacking in professional gratifications. Deeply tied to his homeland, he never became very famous neither there nor abroad until the very last years of his life, when his art was acknowledged and honoured.

Karel Čapek, successful czech dramaturgist, gave him the spur for composing Věc Makropoulos (even if Leóš Janáček himself adapted the dramaturgy and wrote the libretto) thanks to his drama with the same name written in 1922, creating a fascinating and surreal “psychologycal thriller”: a mesmerizing picture where literature, psychology, “coup de theatre”, alchemy, eroticism, music theatre and historic-politic connections with the contemporary society, all these elements come together.

Apparently, the subject is not suited for a musical scene, (as other operas from the same composer, one for all: The cunning little vixen, where almost all the characters are animals). Protagonist of this new rexamination of the myth of eternal youth, and of the incapability of love, is a very audacious character incredibly complex and dramatically intense with his thousand different faces, the beautiful Emilia Marty who, thanks to a magic potion, wins against time: she is not less than 337 years old! In her long life she takes many identities, and her many names have the same initial letters E.M., but at the end she finally choses to die. She’s tired of living, she says, she has seen too much and she realizes that the natural evolution of life, is death. The opera is complex but charming, although not very popular, it has started to be performed on the world’s stage only in the last four or five decades.

Janáček frees his music from the ties of the traditional vocalism, preferring a sort of conversation style, almost as spoken. Never we find wide musical phrases that stays in the memory of the audience; the musical language is rough and strenuous, until the end of third act, unravelling of the whole plot and real expressive climax of the opera.

The alchemic potion was put together in 1585 by Hieronymus Makropulos, Court Doctor of Rudolph II Asburg
. Then he was obliged to experimentate it on his own daughter, and this is the background of the fantastic plot, that the famous American director William Friedkin makes real on stage for Florence’s audience.

The physiological shortness of a “normal” life but lived with intensity is surely to be preferred to an endless esistence and youth, as given by the potion by Dr. Makropulos. This is so true that at the end the main caracter destroys the magical formula. The plot is complicated, full of hints that only at the end find their solution.

The plot is unrealistic, and with many psychological and existential involvements, so that the choice could be on fantastic or symbolic stage solutions

. At the contrary, Friedkin puts it on stage in a realistic way, and apart a good work on acting, specially of the protagonist, he doesn’t show much of personality. He handle the events in a correct but plain way
. Apart the final scene with fires stripes that eat up the parchment and the heroine, the staging isn’t so unforgettable as it was Berg’s Wozzeck that the same director staged in Florence in 1998.

Soprano Angela Denoke outlines Emilia Marty/Elina Makropulos with troubling upsetting fascination, she reveals herself as a terrific actress, an extremely beautiful woman when she’s “young”, and always dominating the scene. Her role is vocally long and difficult, a vocality tense and hard to keep, so as many others of Janáček‘s operas. Denoke goes bravely through the many hazards of her role, giving us back a wonderful character with all her many facets, and with symbiosis between the music and the acting, with great credibility, all in all an exciting thrilling performance. Vocally faultless with a great variety of accents, Denoke had her triumph with an unforgettable performance.

The rest of the cast was well matched. Andrzej Dobber (Jeroslav Prus) stand out from the others, but on the whole all the singers were suitable to their roles, each of them being part of the well articulated background to the story. We remember among the others Jolana Fogašová as Kristina, Miro Dvorsky (Albert Gregor), Karl Michael Ebner (Hauk-Šendorf), Rolf Haunstein (Dr
. Kolenatý), Mirko Guadagnini (Janek), Jan Vacik (Vítek).

Zubin Mehta is Music Director of Florence Opera House, Teatro Comunale. For him this was his debut not only with this opera, but with Janáček‘s music theatre! Maybe this debut has come a bit late in his career, but it’s difficult to imagine for this opera a more accurate conducting, so respectful as it has been to the different themes and the musical athmospheres. All this coming together, as it’s always the case with the Indian conductor, to a great sense of theatre.

Orchestra in this opera is almost protagonist as the singers, and the ensemble of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino has answered perfectly to Mehta‘s conducting, which puts Janáček right in his place in early XX century Europe’s musical culture. The orchestral score itself has tremendous difficulties with many changes in mood and rhythm, many scenes where the orchestra leads the action alternating to others where she’s just a background to what’s on stage.

All in all it has been a “symphonic” musical lecture more than a “barbaric” one, well suited to the disturbing atmosphere, the vigorous sudden sparklings and the wonderful third act, thrilling and breathless.

Florence’s Choir, conducted by Piero Monti, has done well his role part in last act.

Scenes by Michael Curry and costumes by Andrea Schmidt-Futterer were not very original but functional to the staging, with a special note for Denoke’s costumes, which looked more accurate and well studied than the others.

On the whole a first class performance, that gives credit to Florence’s Teatro Comunale which unfortunately, like many other Italian Opera houses, lives dramatic economical problems. The audience who nearly filled the house was captivated and at the end has tributed an enthusiastic success to all the cast.

Review by Fabio Bardelli

(translation Bruno Tredicine)

VĚC MAKROPULOS, Opera in three acts, Music and text: Leóš Janáček, from Karel Čapek

Florence, Teatro Comunale, October 27th, 2011.

Cast: Emilia Marty: Angela Denoke

Albert Gregor: Miro Dvorsky

Hauk-Šendorf: Karl Michael Ebner

Dr. Kolenatý: Rolf Haunstein

Jeroslav Prus: Andrzej Dobber

Janek: Mirko Guadagnini

Vítek: Jan Vacik

Kristina: Jolana Fogašová

Strojnik: Roberto Abbondanza

Poklizecka: Stefanie Iranyi

Komorna: Cristina Sogmaister

Direttore : Zubin Mehta

Regia: William Friedkin

Scene e video: Michael Curry

Costumi: Andrea Schmidt-Futterer

Luci: Mark Jonathan

Foto: Rocky Schenck

Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Maestro del Coro Piero Monti.