Royal Opera House (ROH)
Darkness fills the theatre. This opera is the perfect tragedy; the music and characterisation tugs at your heart strings. Subtle visuals do not reflect the gloomy story line in comparison.
Playful folk style notes followed by loud, dramatic, booming motifs. This opera grasps the audience in a strong hold with apprehension. Jenufa's devastating storyline moves and shakes the theatre. The audience will leave talking about the gravity of this dark, tragic plot. Conducted by Music Director Designate of The Royal Opera 2025/2026 Jakub Hruša, a conductor well versed in Janáček's work; which is a treat for the audience and the piece is clearly in good hands. The orchestra truly play Leos Janáček's music giving it the justice, power and energy it deserves. The opera Sung in Czech with English subtitles and the cast present the emotive story to a high standard you do not need to look at the the subtitles at times!
Jenufa is an opera that presents hard hitting themes of oppression, rejection and indignity. The young, naive Jenufa falls in deep love with the womaniser Števa and is expecting his child... Out of wedlock! Her mother, upon learning of her daughters' intentions of marrying the infamous Števa she tells the couple she will only allow it if he proves he can go sober and be sensible within the next year. Števa's brother Laca, who has adored Jenufa since they were children is green with envy and he 'accidentally' cuts Jenufa's beautiful face, leaving a huge scar. Is it accidental or does he do it to prove his brother only loves her for her appearance? This is the beginning to a huge shift in Jenufa's life and the audience are not ready for how dark her future becomes.
The main character, Jenufa, is a strong female character who carries on through the darkest times, she stays true to herself and it's inspiring. The element of the story that displays how having a baby out of wedlock negatively effects a women's life is eye opening, shocking and gives you an idea of the oppressing opinions and rules of society enforced onto people when the piece was written and first performed in 1904. This production takes the audience on a journey through music.
The cast of the production are the vessels of the piece that help take the audience on the journey through their characterisation and voices. Corinne Winters plays Jenufa, she has been a regular at the Royal Opera House, having debuted at the ROH 2016/17 as Fiordiligi in Cosi Fan Tutte and then returning to play Violetta in La Traviata. She's played in an abundance of opera's all around the world, this isn't her first time as Jenufa, having played the part in Geneva. Interestingly, she has also worked with conductor Jakub Hrusa in recent years, she was a soprano soloist in Janáček's Glagolitic Mass working with Hrusa. She was very prepared, made for this role and it truly is an honour to be able to witness this performance. She has taken time with the role, you can really see from her performance the effects of what happens to Jenufa, by the end she portrays her as emotionless and empty. This is such a devastating and moving performance. Her voice is made for the ROH, bouncing from ear to ear and bringing the audience to their knees with the tragedy it uncovers.
Jenufa presents themes of oppression, the main character gives the idea of a bird trapped in a cage. The set does present this well. For instance, act two, Jenufa is kept in a room made from metal bedframes and does look like a cage. Winters shows how she is trapped in this space by her mother and is restricted to this small spacing. The set closes in on her showing how society's opinions trap her and remove her from society, because of her shunned upon situation of having a child out of wedlock. The main colour scheme of costumes is dark, black colours, foreshadowing the tragedy to come throughout.
However, the ensemble isn't given the opportunity to show the oppressing opinions of society, they hardly react to her and during the most prominent moments of the piece where they would show huge shock and disgust. The moments are short lived and the scale of the reaction fails to highlight the key moments to the audience. For instance, when Laca cuts her face, the moment is so short, the reaction is short and there is not really a visible change to Jenufa to show how this changed her appearance. On the other hand, the fact there is no clear visible change shows how vain Števa is and disrespectful to women, how he will just leave and neglect her and their own child just because of a scar. There are mattresses scattered across the stage during act two and it is not clear why this choice was made and takes the concentration away from the cage. Whilst it shows how Jenufa's life has been messed up, because it's untidy, it just isn't a strong and clear choice.
This opera is one to watch, the emotion, scale of the tragedy and the music will bring you to your knees. There are some picturesque moments that will stick with you. It is a treat to see Hruša's attention to detail when conducting and shows how it was a fantastic move for the ROH having him in the position of Music Director Designate of The Royal Opera 2025/2026, he is clearly going to do some groundbreaking work for them over the next year; showing you the quality he is capable of. The production is truly special, the voices, acting and music are performed at a high quality, as you would expect for the ROH. It would be a perfect production if the visuals matched the quality of the other elements in showing the volume of the darkness of the opera. There are some powerful set and ensemble choices, but they just do not match the cast and music in quality. Regardless, this production is a brilliant Royal Opera House experience. The audience will be left moved by the performance and looking forward to what Hruša does next!
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