- Vienna Phi!harmonic Orchestra:
Sir Charles Mackerras conduct-
ing. Vienna State Opera Chorus:
Norbert Balatsch, chorus master.
London CD #414 483-2, ;

.! Elisabeth Soderstrom — Jenufa.
-Wieslaw Ochman — Laca. Eva
-Randova — Kosteinicka. Petr
Dvorsky — Steva.

ot long ago, posters
pronounced the
-B. SQ Vancouver Opera’s
production of Jenufa by.
“Janacek. We, on the other
‘hand, wrestle with our own.
.-pronouncemenis as-we dili-
-gently check our Czech —
its Yen- ooh: -fa by. Yah-nah-.
“¢ heque: ; :
7 Premiering i in Prague i in 1904,
- Jenufa was 10 years in the mak-.-”
“ing for Janacek due to several cir-
cumstances, not the least of
“which was his immediate fami-
~ ly’s serialized demise. The com-
~_ poser gradually came to consider,
is opera as somehow cursed ..
and he may not have been far
; _ wrong.
ce The play on ‘which itis based,
‘Her Foster-Daughter, by. Gabriela
: Preissova, opened in Prague in ~
..1890 to/extremely mixed :
- reviews. Where the strength of -
“Preissova’s writing was unques-
_ tianed, that such an.“immeral”

: Ross MacDonald

MUSIC REVIEW

balked at legitimizing such disso-

lution in the opera houses of
Europe. .

The story, you see, tells of a
young girl, Jenufa, who finds her-

_ self in “the family way” by dint of

the irresistibly indulgent Steva

— 66 T, he tender
majority of. polite.
» society balked at.
-_ legitimizing such.

dissolution... 99

- play should made credible by the ;

“mainstream theatre was most
among the masses. Preissova her-
‘self.retreated from the vehement --:
controversy and never again,
aparently; produced anything -
appfcaching the insight demon-
strated tv Her. Foster-Daughter. -

“Janacek himself wasn’t des-
ined to'suffer the same fate,
go h his'opera was to be
ually ostracized. Again the ten-
der majority, of police society ©

: (Stay-vah). But she’s also adored
by Laca (Lah-sah), Steva’s half- *.
- brother. Steva plans to marry.
Jenufa but it is forbidden by her
step-mother, Kostelnicka (Kost-el-

-neech-ka), until he stays sober for
a year.

Eventually the baby is secretly
born while Steva, meantime, ,_
goes after the mayor's daughter,

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Kostelnizka-kills the baby so Laca |

will marry Jenufa, everybody ©
accuses Jenufa, Kostelnicka con-
fesses, Laca still wants Jenufa and
they look toward a happy fife
togetner. Which is the end of the
story and also the problem ~— no
deific retribution for gregarious
girs.

But if we can get our revision-
ist, neo-modernist, politically
correctist heads around that,
Jenufa makes for-surprisingly
good music. I’ve come to
approach Janacek with some sus-
picion as his output has been
inconsistent at best in terms of.
appeal.

Here, though, cpera buffs will
be very happy. Recorded in
Vienna in 1982, the Vancouver «
Opera have ‘assured me that this

- recording is the only one that’s

readily available — which isn’t
necessarily bad because it’s a
fine job all ‘round. And, presum-
ing the V.O. people aren’t mis-
taken, this recording is destined .
to function as the Jenufa of popu-

"lar choice.

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