Martinu's dazzling, overlooked Mirandolina in Prague

By Frank Kuznik, 08 January 2014

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Reviewed at Estates Theatre (Stavovské divadlo), Prague on 7 January 2014

Martinů, Mirandolina, H 346

National Moravian-Silesian Theatre

Marko Ivanović, Conductor

Jiří Nekvasil, Director

Kateřina Kněžíková, Mirandolina

National Moravian-Silesian Theatre Orchestra

Eva Drízgová, Ortensia

Anna Nitrová, Dejanira

Josef Moravec, Conte d'Albafloria

Luciano Mastro, Fabrizio

Jan Willem Baljet, Cavaliere di Ripafratta

Martin Gurbal, Marchese di Forlimpopoli

The Devil’s Wall: Smetana’s last opera, at his birthplace

David Karlin, 15th June

Glorious music and excellent singing can't mask a simplistic staging of Smetana's last opera, an uneasy combination of rom-com and medieval legend.

***11

An all-star Jenůfa falls short in Prague

Frank Kuznik, 16th September

Superb singing and brilliant work in the pit can't quite rescue Jiří Nekvasil's overambitious production.

****1

The Devil’s Wall: Smetana’s last opera, at his birthplace

David Karlin, 15th June

Glorious music and excellent singing can't mask a simplistic staging of Smetana's last opera, an uneasy combination of rom-com and medieval legend.

***11

Casting Trump as a 21st-century Brechtian villain

Kurt Gottschalk, 1st September

Donatienne Michel-Dansac is great in the lead at the Ostrava Days new music festival, leering, boasting and swaggering convincingly as the former US President.

****1

Don Giovanni: Plácido Domingo fulfills a dream in Prague

Frank Kuznik, 27th October

The King of Opera leads an inspired performance commemorating the 230th anniversary of Don Giovanni.

*****

Red Moon Rising: Orff in Prague

Frank Kuznik, 20th October

In a delirious opening to the new opera season, Prague's National Theatre puts a contemporary spin on Carl Orff and the Brothers Grimm.

***11

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Frank Kuznik

Frank Kuznik is the former Editor-in-Chief and Culture Editor of The Prague Post, Central Europe’s premier English-language weekly newspaper. He currently divides his time between Prague and his hometown in the US, Cleveland, where he covers northeast Ohio's dynamic classical music scene. In Prague he is an habitué of the Rudolfinum, National Theater, State Opera and other storied classical music venues, and an unabashed fan of Czech music.