Organization

Janáček Brno International Festival

Szilvia Rálik

Set designer

Radu Boruzescu

Singer

Tenor

Enrico Casari

Živný

Philip Sheffield

Soprano

Alžběta Poláčková

Míla Valková

Mila's Mother

Peter Račko

Dr Suda

Bass

Jan Šťáva

Lhotský

Baritone

Igor Loškár

Konečký

Mezzo-soprano

Daniela Straková-Šedrlová

Miss Stuhlá

Michael Robotka

Poet

Andrea Široká

First Spa Guest

Miss Pacovská

Tereza Merklová Kyzlinková

Second Spa Guest

Mrs Majorová

Student

Jitka Zerhauerová

The Old Slovak Woman

Jana Hrochová

Lukáš Bařák

Verva

Zdislava Bočková

Součková

Jarmila Balážová

Kosinská

Ondřej Koplík

Conductor

Marko Ivanović

Stage director

Robert Carsen

Defta Catalina Codruta

Costume designer

Annemarie Woods

Lighting designer

Peter van Praet

Choreographer

Lorena Randi

Chorus master

Pavel Koňárek

Dramaturge

Ian Burton

Silent

Kryštof Cholava

Doubek as child

Natascha Petrinsky

2. Lady

Marta Reichelová

Hana Kopřivová

A Young Widow

Pavel Valenta

Inženýr

Pí. Radová

Ivo Musil

Sklepník

2nd lady

1st lady

Others

Chorus of the Janáček Opera of the National Theatre Brno

Orchestra

Orchester des Nationaltheaters Brünn/Brno

čeština

Osud -  (Fate)

Brno

Czech Republic

Festival Janáček

Osud Janáček

Public

Fate

Approved

A young woman in love with a composer is forced by her mother to take a rich suitor. When the two lovers are reunited years later, happiness is theirs for th...

The opening ceremony of the festival will be marked by the return of one of the world’s best opera directors, Robert Carsen. This creator of productions praised for their dramatic grasp, poesy and artistic refinement has returned to Janáček´s opera works once again after his previous productions of Jenůfa, The Cunning Little Vixen, Katya Kabanova, The Makropulos Affair and From the House of the Dead. Destiny, created especially for the Janáček Opera, National Theatre Brno, is thus Mr Carsen’s sixth interpretation of a work by the Czech master.

The first decades of the 20th century were characterized by a search for new ways and means of expression, and this was doubly true for opera. Janáček had already taken a radically new path with Jenůfa before embarking on a musical and dramaturgical excursion into totally uncharted lands with his fourth opera, Destiny. As is the case with other works by him, Janáček’s creativity was inspired by a beautiful woman, 28-year-old Kamila Urválková, who was the wife of a forest manager in Zahájí as well as an ex-lover of the composer Ludvík Čelanský. Janáček met her in Luhačovice in August 1903. Kamila described her romantic relationship with Čelanský, which hadn’t turned out well: Čelanský portrayed his disillusionment in the opera Kamila, where the lady in the title role was portrayed as an unstable and immature person. Janáček fell for her charms and decided to create “a brand new, modern opera” in which her good name would be restored. After his return from Luhačovice, he searched for a suitable librettist capable of processing his ideas and eventually asked Fedora Bartošová, a young teacher and erstwhile friend to his deceased daughter Olga, to do so. He didn´t call Destiny an opera, but rather three episodes from a novel, and it places spectators in a completely different environment to that of his earlier operas. The very first tones of the orchestral waltz take us amongst the cream of high, spa-going society. The simple natural prose of previous works is replaced by the language of decadent poets, and the plot is unveiled before the eyes of the audience via the dialogue between the two main characters, the composer Živný and his lover Míla. As with his other operas, Janáček drew extensively from his notes on the melodies of human speech. Despite the undisputed musical qualities of the work, the composer didn´t live to see Destiny performed. It was originally assigned to the Brno Theatre, but Janáček decided to have it performed at the Vinohrady Theatre in Prague. However, after a series of delays and despite many promises, the premiere didn´t take place. It wasn’t until 1934 that Janáček´s pupil Břetislav Bakala prepared a radio version, following it up with a concert version twenty years later in 1954. Destiny was finally staged for the first time in Brno on 25th October 1958, adapted by Václav Nosek.

Even though Destiny stands somewhat in the shadow of Janáček´s top operas, mainly due to its distinctive libretto, it has an important place in the history of opera as well as in Janáček´s compositional development.

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