Every other year the city of Brno celebrates its most famous former resident: Leoš Janáček.
Janáček is internationally known for his operas. He put Brno on the map, and the festival keeps it alive as a hub for his music. The 9th International Janacek Brno Opera and Music Festival begins tomorrow and stretches through most of November.
The festival will begin with a new production of ‘The Excursions of Mr Brouček’ (‘Výlety páně Broučkovy’). It will be premiered tomorrow at the composer’s namesake Janáček Theatre.
On 4 December, the opera will be filmed by Czech Television, broadcast on a live stream over the OperaVision platform, and recorded for Czech Radio.
‘The Excursions of Mr Brouček’ is the inspiration for the festival: Without Borders!
“The new festival production is coming about as a co-production with Teatro Real Madrid and Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin,” said Jiří Heřman, the artistic director of the Brno National Theatre’s Janáček Opera, “and is another important step forward for the Janáček Brno Festival in spreading Janáček’s less-performed works on world stages with leading performers.”
Additional performances of Janáček operas include ‘The Makropulous Affair’ at Janacek Theatre on 16 November; ‘Jenufa’ at Mahen Theatre on 20 November; and ‘The Cunning Little Vixen’ at Janacek Theatre on 24 November, which will serve as both the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the opera and the closing ceremony of the festival.
There will also be daily performances throughout Brno to support the program.
‘The Excursions of Mr Brouček’ is led by Robert Carsen, who has a special relationship with Janáček and is one of the elite directors in the world of opera. His productions play with great success at the most prestigious opera houses around the world. ‘The Excursions of Mr Brouček’ is one of Janáček’s less frequently performed operas because finding the key to connecting its two different halves is far from easy, as Carsen himself admits: “This opera is definitely the most wonderful, strange and crazy work I have ever come across (and I have already come across a few in my time) and a real challenge for our team. The Excursion to the Moon and the second act, which takes in travel, war, resistance, a certain nationalism and victory, made us think about the events of 1968/1969 – the Prague Spring. 1969 also saw the Moon landing. The year 1968 was Space Odyssey, Barbarella, the first Woodstock, flower children – simply the beginning of all the things that can be found in some way in Mr Brouček.”
The musical staging is in the hands of Marko Ivanović, chief conductor of NdB’s Janáček Opera, who admires this opera for its peculiar humour, the strange language of the libretto, and its eccentric musical ideas.
The title role of Mr Brouček is to be played by the great British tenor Nicky Spence. Other roles will be performed by Daniel Matoušek (Mazal/Blankytný/Petřík) and Doubravka Novotná (Málinka/Etherea/Kunka), who has become a significant addition to the Janáček Opera Ensemble at NdB this season.
The choreography by Rebecca Howell, who works with the most distinguished theatres and festivals around the world (Salzburger Festspiele, Royal Opera House, Teatro alla Scala) is an important part of the production. Plus, the staging of the opera by two choirmasters who are sharing “Brouček’s Excursions” is also extraordinary: Mr. Brouček’s Excursion to the Moon is to be staged by choirmaster Martin Buchta, while Mr Brouček’s Excursion to the 15th Century is to be presented by choirmaster Pavel Koňárek.
For more information and to purchase tickets, go to https://janacek-brno.cz/en/.
The National Theatre of Brno (NdB) presents opera, ballet, and theatrical performances. Click here for the full schedule and more details.
