Name: Jenůfa
Start: 2025-01-15T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2025-02-01T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Royal Opera House

Admin

Royal Opera House

Set designer

Michael Levine

Costume designer

Gesine Völlm

Lighting designer

James Farncombe

Choreographer

Teresa Rotemberg

Stage director

Claus Guth

Video designer

Rocafilm

Dramaturge

Yvonne Gebauer

Conductor

Jakub Hrůša

Chorus master

William Spaulding

Singer

Soprano

Corinne Winters

Jenufa

Karita Mattila

Sacristan Buryja

Tenor

Thomas Atkins

Steva Buryja

Nicky Spence

Laca Klemen

Contralto

Hanna Schwarz

Old Buryjovka

Baritone

James Cleverton

Starek

Bass

Jonathan Lemalu

Mayor

Mezzo-soprano

Marie McLaughlin

Mayor's wife

Valentina Puskás

Karolka

Isabela Diaz

Jana

Veena Akama-Makia

Herdswoman

Cai Jingwen

Barena

Orchestra

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Others

Chorus of the Royal Opera House

Czech

Jenůfa -  (Jenufa)

London

United Kingdom

Main Stage

Public

Sharan Allad

English

Approved

Corinne Winters (Jenůfa) and Karita Mattila (the Kostelnička) lead in Janáček’s evocative opera with a score that is infused with traditional folk melodies of the composer’s native Moravia. Music Director Designate Jakub Hruša conducts Claus Guth’s staging which is an ‘edgy, evocative’ (Telegraph) take on this poignant domestic drama.

THE MUSIC OF JENŮFA 
Janáček’s folk-inspired music movingly captures Jenůfa’s progression from hope to despair to eventual radiant happiness, while her stepmother, the Kostelnička, is one of opera’s most complex maternal figures. Writer Nigel Simeone describes the unique structure of Janáček's stirring music as such: ‘Every character has his or her own musical language, and Janáček sets down a pattern that will serve him for all of his mature operas. A theme, often as short as four notes, dominates each scene [of the opera] but then gives way to another, equally memorable'.  

WHAT IS A KOSTELNIČKA?  
Jenůfa's stepmother is referred throughout Janáček’s opera as ‘the Kostelnička’, a title given to a village church-warden or elder. Initially presenting as a strong matriarch who is fiercely protective of Jenůfa, the Kostelnička has one of the more dramatic – and dark – character transformations across opera. As Jenůfa's future is turned increasingly precarious by her illegitimate child, the Kostelnička’s maternal instinct morphs into obsessive determination... In a small, stifling community, how far must a mother go to protect her child?

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Ensemble