Performer: Hlengiwe Mkhwanazi

In Coburg lotet Regisseur Balázs Kovalik die psychologischen Extremzustände einer bäuerlichen Dorfgemeinschaft in Leos Janáčeks früher Oper Jenůfa voll aus. Am Ende fasziniert ein tief bewegendes Plädoyer für den Humanismus.

What makes this Figaro memorable and admirable is the way it manages both to be sprightly in its tone and details and also luxuriant in places that another director might have blown through.

The marriage between performers and score here is perfect, because Gershwin’s text-setting is near-miraculous, somehow every word is clear and seems to be naturally inflected by the curvature of the musical line.