|
A Rather Special Interpretation
GIUSEPPE PENNISI was at the opening night
of the new production in Florence
of Janácek's 'The Makropoulos Case'
As reported this summer on the basis of a new Salzburg-Warsaw production (see M&V, 22 August 2011, Faith and the Devil), Vec Makropoulos is one of Janácek's last works. Premiered in 1926 in Brno, the music drama -- a more appropriate term than 'opera' -- is based on a then successful play by Karel Capec which appears like a thriller: the gradual uncovering of the mystery surrounding the opera singer Emilia Marty, who is in possession of very detailed information about facts and documents long past (and of critical importance in a major trial which has lasted over one hundred years). She exerts a strange fascination on everyone coming into contact with her. In a compact play, we discover that due to a strange set of events and a potion -- the Vec Makropoulos -- she has been living for 337 years...
Copyright © 29 October 2011
Giuseppe Pennisi,
Rome, Italy
|
