Opera Scotland

Leoš Janáček Suggest updates

Leo Eugen Janáček

Born Hukvaldy, 3 July 1854.

Died Moravská Ostrava, 12 August 1928.

Czech composer.

In Britain, Janáček's operas are indelibly associated with the pioneering work of Sir Charles Mackerras (1925-2010), who first conducted Kátya Kabanová in its British premiere at Sadler's Wells in 1951, and last conducted The Cunning Little Vixen at Covent Garden a few months before his death. He led very many performances of all the main works in Britain during the intervening sixty years, but did not give a single performance in Scotland. While we can listen to his wonderful recordings, in performance we have had to be satisfied with visits by the National Theatre from Prague, and by Scottish Opera's generally excellent stagings, directed by David Pountney, with Richard Armstrong conducting.

His dramatic song cycle Diary of One Who Disappeared and the late choral piece, the Glagolitic Mass, are also included. Indeed the Mass was conducted in Edinburgh by Mackerras with the Czech Philharmonic.

Operas and vocal works performed in Scotland are shown in bold:-

01   Šárka (1887, rev1918; prod 1925) (Zeyer)

02   The Beginning of a Romance - Pocatek romanu (1894) ()

03   Jenůfa - Její pastorkyňa (Brno 1904) (cpsr)                                                                     

04   Destiny - Osud (1904, prod 1958) (cpsr & Bartosova)                                                          

05   Excursions of Mr Brouček - Výlety pánĕ Broučkovy (Prague 1920) (Gellner, Dyk & Prochazka)

06   Diary of One Who Disappeared - Zápisník zmizelého (Brno 1921) (cpsr)

06   Kát’a Kabanová (Brno 1921) (cpsr)

07   The Cunning Little Vixen - Příhody Lišky Bystroušky (Brno 1924) (cpsr)

08   The Makropulos Affair - Věc Makropulos (Brno 1926) (cpsr)   

09   Glagolitic Mass - Msa Glagolakaja (1926) (Liturgy)

10   From the House of the Dead - Z mrtvého domu (Brno 1930) (cpsr)