The National Theatre of Brno has many performances every month in opera, ballet and drama. Here are some of the highlights for the month of March. Click here for more information in English. Title photo: The Lady of the Camellias / Ctibor Bachratý.
Brno, Mar. 1 (BD) – The Lady of the Camellias, an original ballet choreographed by Croatian Valentina Turcu, will bring passion and emotional depth to the stage this month as it explores the themes of the Alexandre Dumas novel through dance and the music of Franz Schubert.
Turcu’s choreography creates a ballet spectacle that is imbued with many contrasting themes, most significantly those that may still be considered morally dubious, such as free love from a woman’s perspective. The unique and thought-provoking female viewpoint provides us not only with a new “reading” of the novel, but also a more authentic, believable and seductive interpretation.
“This is a novel with a ‘reputation’. Sexual. Moral. Individual. Social. Yet intimate and scandalous…”
Valentina Turcu, Choreographer
The multi-layered dramatic ballet features strong and energized choreography, as well as highly aestheticized movement that is accentuated with the personal touches and expressivity of the Brnoan ballet dancers.
Turcu describes the performance with a string of adjectives: “This is a novel with a ‘reputation’. Sexual. Moral. Individual. Social. Yet intimate and scandalous. (It is a) timeless piece. Stylish, intense and sensitive. Definitely ideal material for dance performance.”
Turcu created the ballet specifically for the Brno company.
“I felt immediate inspiration to create it here, right here,” Turcu said. “These beautiful dancers can move in a very profound (and) exquisite way. (They are) strong as a company, as a team, yet each one of them has their own signature. I respect that enormously. Their individuality and artistic power (shows) on stage. I was sure that they would catch the French decadent mood of the novel with the right charm, charisma and attitude. Our performance is dynamic. (It) has a cinematic tempo, a movie kind of feeling. We engage the public into the great loss, love, passion and pain. And we do it sincerely.”
The premiere is March 6. Additional performances will be March 7, 8, 20, 21 and 27, and April 22.
OPERA
Looking past the month of March, The Greek Passion, by Bohuslav Martinů, returns to the stage at Janáček Theatre in April. Tickets are available now.
Having himself experienced the fate of a refugee, Martinů created the opera based on the novel Christ Recrucified by Nikos Kazantzakis. It conveys a great humanistic message about the power of faith, which is particularly topical in today’s world.
The new production of The Greek Passion will bring two rare guests to the Brno: Tomáš Netopil, one of the best contemporary Czech conductors; and Harold Meers, one of the leading American tenors, for the role of Manolio.
Performances are scheduled in one block on April 9, 13, 18, 19, 23 and 24.
As for March, there are still tickets for many performances, including Antonín Dvořák’s The Devil and Kate on March 4 and 28; Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca on March 11 and 14; Giuseppe Verdi’s Don Carlos on March 15; Petr Iljič Čajkovskij’s The Queen of Spades on March 17 and 19; and Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly on March 25.
DRAMA
Plays with English subtitles in March are Night of Fools (Così) on March 24 and The King’s Speech on March 25.
Lucerna, a magical play that mixes an on-stage mini-orchestra, creative scenery, lively costumes and excellent acting into an entertaining package, is in Czech. It continues its run on March 6, 11 and 27.
