Mattila delivers powerful Kostelnička in Jenůfa

By Mark Pullinger, 19 April 2016

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“Mattila’s Kostelnička is not a monster, but a woman driven to do a monstrous deed”

Reviewed at Royal Festival Hall, London on 18 April 2016

Janáček, Jenůfa

Jiří Bělohlávek, Conductor

Marta Reichelová, Jano

Adriana Kohútková, Jenůfa

Lucie Silkenová, Karolka

Karita Mattila, Kostelnička

Jana Hrochová, Mayor's wife

Kateřina Jalovcová, Pastuchyňa

Yvona Škvárová, Grandmother Buryjovka

Aleš Briscein, Laca Klemeň

Jaroslav Březina, Števa Buryja

Svatopluk Sem, Stárek, Mill foreman

Luděk Vele, Mayor

Czech Philharmonic

Lukáš Vasilek, Choirmaster / chorus director

Czech Philharmonic Choir of Brno

Chiaroscuro extinguished: a self-indulgent Poppea in Copenhagen

Mengguang Huang, 26th April

Christoph Marthaler’s staging of Monteverdi’s Poppea for the Royal Danish Opera is a study in boredom.

**111

Romeo Castellucci directs a new Pelléas et Mélisande at La Scala

Laura Servidei, 26th April

The Italian director makes his long-awaited Italian operatic debut at the Teatro alla Scala in a production which perfectly mirrors Debussy’s most enigmatic creation.

****1

Lepage’s Bluebeard and Erwartung pairing remains compelling theatre

John Gilks, 25th April

Some 30 years after its first appearance, Robert Lepage’s double bill of Duke Bluebeards Castle and Erwartung is still strikingly effective and very modern-looking music theatre.

*****

Wretches like us: the LPO’s concert Wozzeck cuts to the quick

Peter Quantrill, 25th April

Beautifully prepared singing and playing brings out the tender side to Berg's modernist classic as part of the Southbank Centre’s Multitudes festival.

****1

Trojan’s Carousel: a magical night of dreams come true in Prague

Frank Kuznik, 23rd April

A vintage opera at the National Theatre offers charming adventures for children and musical sophistication for adults.

*****

A sorta fairy tale: Sleepers Awake premieres at Opera Philadelphia

Cameron Kelsall, 22nd April

A new opera by Gregory Spears subverts the Sleeping Beauty trope, with middling results.

**111

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Mark Pullinger

Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.

Mattila delivers powerful Kostelnička in Czech Phil's Jenůfa