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LEOS JANACEK (1854-1928)

The Makropulos Case

125:43

Opera in Three Acts

Libretto by the composer after Karel Capek's comedy Vec Makropulos

English translation by Norman Tucker

Act I

35:45

1

Prelude

5:22

2

'Oh dear, my goodness!'

4:14

Vítek, Gregor

3

'Daddy, she really is wonderful'

1:55

Kristina, Gregor, Vítek

4

'Come this way please'

11:23

Kolenaty, Kristina, Marty, Gregor

5

'Gone at last!'

5:53

6

'Emilia'

4:10

Gregor, Marty

7

'Found it! We've found it'

2:45

Kolenaty, Marty, Gregor, Prus

Act II

30:25

8

'Did you ever see such flowers?'

2:14

Cleaner, Stage Hand, Prus

9

'Janek, come on. No one here will see us'

6:35

Kristina, Janek, Prus, Marty, Gregor, Vítek

10

'Excuse me. Excuse me, may I…'

4:15

Hauk, Marty, Prus

11

'And the next! Is that the lot?'

1:34

Marty, Vítek, Kristina, Janek, Prus, Gregor

12

'Allow me to ask this question'

6:29

Prus, Marty

13

'Is that you, Bertie?'

9:17

Marty, Gregor, Cleaner, Janek, Prus

Act III

29:34

14

'Well? D'you hear me?'

5:30

Marty, Prus, Chambermaid

15

'Buenos dias Maxi! Why so early?'

3:29

Marty, Hauk, Chambermaid, Kolenaty, Gregor

16

'The seal and th'initials E.M.'

12:20

Gregor, Vítek, Kolenaty, Prus, Marty, Kristina

17

'Fetch the doctor!'

8:14

Kolenaty, Marty, Gregor, Vítek, Prus, Kristina, Chorus

Interview with Sir Charles Mackerras

Sir Charles Mackerra talks with Rodney Milnes about how he came to love Janácek, the man and the musician.

18

I

Interview part 1

29:29

19

II

Interview part 2

2:11

20

III

Interview part 3

1:23

21

IV

Interview part 4

3:03

22

V

Interview part 5

4:13

23

VI

Interview part 6

15:24

Cheryl Barker soprano - Emilia Marty (E.M.)

Neal Davies bass-baritone - Dr Kolenaty

John Graham-Hall tenor - Vítek

Elena Xanthoudakis soprano - Kristina

Robert Brubaker tenor - Albert Gregor

John Wegner baritone - Baron Jaroslav Prus

Thomas Walker tenor - Janek Prus

Graham Clark Count Hauk-Šendorf

Graham Danby bass - Stage Hand

Kathleen Wilkinson mezzo-soprano - Cleaner

Susanna Tudor-Thomas mezzo-soprano - Chambermaid

Sir Charles Mackerras

18, 20, 24 & 26 May 2006

This electrifying performance has been captured in sound that is exceptionally full-bodied, and it also has great immediacy. I very much welcome a recording in English – especially such clear English – but this new set enshrines an account that is altogether exceptional irrespective the language… The cast led by Barker’s stunning Emily Marty, is superb, and Charles Mackerras has probed ever deeper into this astonishing work. The result is one of the great Janacék opera sets.
Cheryl Barker is thrilling as Emilia Marty in this ENO performance recorded at the Coliseum last spring. Sir Charles Mackerras recorded the opera in Czech in Vienna 25 years ago and this Opera in English can stand the comparison. His interpretation is as compelling as ever. No one else can get as far inside Janácek’s score as he does. Then ENO orchestra plays splendidly, and there are excellent cameos from Graham Clark and Hauk-Sendorf and Elena Xanthoudakis as Kristina. A valuable extra is Mackerras’s discussion with Rodney Milnes.
So good it hurts… some of the greatest operatic music ever… Entrust Janácek’s case to one of his greatest champions, Sir Charles Mackerras, and you have one of the most memorable evenings at English National Opera… Cheryl Barker is outstanding as Emilia Marty… Uprecedented eloquence from ENO’s fine house orchestra.
Reviews from the performance:

Sir Charles Mackerras conducts with the energy of a man possessed, confirming his status as the world’s pre-eminent Janácek interpreter and producing a blistering performance from the ENO orchestra… It’s the humanity of Janácek’s music that finally triumphs in this magnificent, insightful production.
The performers range from the vocally imposing (Jane Eaglen in Tosca and Turandot, Susan Patterson in Manon Lescaut) to the more graceful and delicate (Mary Plazas in Gianni Schicchi and Suor Angelica, Cynthia Haymon in Boheme, the trio of Mandarins in Turandot). Cheryl Barker is vocally and dramatically impressive in Butterfly.
Mackerras’s reading, recorded in live performance, is slightly more expansive than his benchmark Vienna version, and inevitably less finely played, but the passionately lyrical urgency and sense of mysterydrive it along just as compellingly… But this is more vivid and dramatic, and its immediacy also offers English-speaking listeners easier access to this strange but rewarding masterpiece.
Barker conveys the title character’s coolness and vulnerability with real power, and she has excellent support from Brubaker and Wegner as the men besotted with her.
Cheryl Barker matches Elisabeth Söderström’s famous turn in the first Mackeraas recording of this endlessly fascinating opera. As always, there is no conductor who better understands Janacék’s sound-world nor its conversational rhythms. A strong cast and excellent translation makes this a Janacék must-have.
These CDs make the best possible case for Makropulos, with Cheryl Barker outstanding as Emilia and well supported by a strong team of men, led by John Wegner’s powerful Baron Prus. On this occasion the English language is an asset and the diction of the entire cast exemplary.
Here, recorded during the opera’s run at the Coliseum… is Sir Charles Mackerras’s compelling interpretation of this remarkable piece, with Cheryl Barker hypnotically thrilling as Emilia Marty in a performance that can stand comparison with Elisabeth Söderström’s on Mackerras’s Decca set with the Vienna Philharmonic made in Czech 25 years ago. The smaller parts are well sung… The orchestral playing( of a revised edition) is magnificent and there nis an additional track of a fascinating interview between Mackerras and Rodney Milnes about Sir Charles’s devotion to Janacék.
Chery Baker plays the diva whose three centuries of youthfulness are beginning to wear off. Her sense of desperation colours every phrase… She is admirably supported by Neal Davies, Robert Brubaker, John Wegner, John Graham-Hall, Thomas Walker and Graham Clark as the various men who fall under her Lulu-like spell. All the singing is closely miked – essential in this most wordy of Janacék’s opera – but it never compromises the depth and richness of sound from the orchestra pit in the overall balance. And in the pit itself, Mackerras responds to the composer’s fecund writing with a performance of rhythmic vitality and textural clarity.


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