The Makropulos affair
Leoš Janáček
The Makropulos affair
Leoš Janáček belongs to the most respected composers of the previous century. His works are presented by leading opera houses worldwide.
Janáček shocked his contemporaries by the themes he selected for his operas, including the Makropulos Affair, a 1922 text by Karel Čapek.
He was surely attracted by the character of the mysterious Elina Makropulos, a daughter of court physician to Rudolph II. The emperor feared death and ordered his physician to prepare an elixir of eternal youth and immortality. Once the potion was ready the emperor ordered the physician to test it on his daughter Elina who then lived over three hundred years long. In the opera we see Elina at the end of her existence, exhausted by the excessive length of her life and wishing for death that she fears at the same time. The philosophical message of the theme – “you fools, you are so happy to be dying soon” – is still valid today. In Plzeň it will be the first time that the Macropulos Affair will be staged as opera.
Creators
- Musical arrangement:
- Norbert Baxa
- Conductors:
- Norbert Baxa / Jiří Štrunc
- Directed by:
- Martin Otava
- Stage Design:
- Daniel Dvořák
- Costume:
- Dana Haklová
- Light Design:
- Antonín Pfleger
- Video projection:
- Petr Hloušek
- Script Editor:
- Zbyněk Brabec
- Choirmaster:
- Jakub Zicha
- Assistant director:
- Michal Lieberzeit
- Musical preparation:
- Maxim Averkiev, Martin Marek
- Prompter:
- Matěj Vaňkát
- Stage manager:
- Petra Kuldová Tolašová
Prersons and actors
- Emilia Marty:
- Ivana Veberová
- Albert Gregor:
- Richard Samek
- Vítek, solicitátor:
- Petr Horák / Tomáš Kořínek
- Krista, jeho dcera:
- Magdaléna Heboussová / Zuzana Koś Kopřivová
- Jaroslav Prus:
- Jiří Kubík / Svatopluk Sem
- Janek, jeho syn:
- Jan Maria Hájek / Amir Khan
- Doktor Kolenatý, advokát:
- Jevhen Šokalo / František Zahradníček
- Strojník:
- Jan Hnyk / Dalibor Tolaš
- Poklízečka:
- Radka Sehnoutková / Ivana Šaková
- Hauk - Šendorf:
- Petr Horák / Jan Ježek
- Komorná:
- Jana Foff Tetourová / Jana Piorecká
- Lékař:
- Viktor Bezkorovainyi / Roman Dušek
- Orchestr opery DJKT
Photos from the production
Photo author: Martina Root
- The length of the production is given including 1 intermission.
