Opera in three acts
Duration: 2 hours without interval
Music: Leoš Janáček
(Composed 1894-1903)
Premiered: Brno, 21/01/1904 (rev. 1907)
Revised and re-orchestrated: Karel Kovařovic, 1916

Read more about the various versions of Jenůfa
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Premiered: Prague, 26/05/1916
Libretto: Composer after Gabriela Preissová

Catalogue Number: JW I/4


Despite the director of the Prague National Theatre, Karel Kovařovic’s, refusal to perform the work in Prague until 1916, Jenůfa was the work that launched Janáček’s operatic career. Since those Prague performances the opera has enjoyed great popularity and is now firmly established in the repertoire throughout the world. The work marked Janáček’s most intensive consideration of the operatic genre. He spent a huge amount of time over its composition, and revised the work considerably after its first 1904 Brno performances. Although many argue that the opera (particularly Act One) shows traces of a ‘number’ approach (as with Počátek románu) its differs greatly from its predecessors as being a fluid approach to music drama, combined with its verismo-violence Moravian village setting. It follows a tradition in late 19th century Czech literature of social-realism, and the operatic realist tradition born in Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana, which Janáček so loved. Notwithstanding the fact that Janáček’s opera didn’t meet with half the controversy that Gabriela Preissová’s original play did, the opera’s story coupled with Janáček’s increasing use of violent textures and speech melody still has the power to shock its audience. One proviso of the 1916 Prague premiere was that Kovařovic insisted that he should reorchestrate the score, thus robbing it of the immediacy of its brittle style. It is only recently with the appearance of the Mackerras/Decca recording of the work and the Tyrrell/Mackerras score of the Brno version that the composer’s own final 1908 thoughts on the work can now be performed. This is the version that is currently being adopted in this country and has been recently recorded by Haitink on Warner and Mackerras (again) in English on Chandos, where the opera enjoys many performances. Although the Prague premiere marked a tremendous turn-around in the composer's career, for Janáček’s wife it was when she became fully aware of her husband's infatuation and affair with the Prague Kostelnička, Gabriela Horvátová. Click here to read some of Zdenka Janáčková's reminiscences of the performance.


Synopsis

Placing the action of the opera at certain times in the year has proved problematic. Act I has said to have been at 'dusk in September' (WNO 1998) or in the 'Autumn' (The Royal Opera 1993). A more sound suggestion is probably 'summer'. We know that Act II takes place in the dead of winter, due to the frozen river so central to the tragedy of the act. The libretto also suggests that five months have passed since Act I. Act III is set in the spring. Two months have passed and the ice is beginning to melt. These distinctions of time have been variously emphasised or ignored. In the recent Olivier Tambosi production they were indicated by the appearance of a field at the back. Pictured in Act One as a rich corn field ready for harvest, in Act Two as blizzard battered and in Act Three with a ploughed field, pregnant with the hope of spring.

Jenůfa is, probably more than any other opera, a story full of pre- and post-opera details. The discussion of the closing events of the opera below indicate that these have been cause for debate. The events and tensions which have happened before the rise of the curtain on the mill in act one are equally difficult to understand. Janáček himself got in a muddle trying to explain the situation of the Buryja family to his publisher, Universal Edition. When The Royal Opera revived its long-gone production of the opera in 1974, John Tyrrell helpfully provided in his programme notes a clear family tree which is reproduced here.

The Buryja Family Tree for Jenůfa
(Names given in bold appear in the opera)

From this we can see that Števa, Jenůfa and Laca are cousins. Grandmother Buryjová (nicknamed Buryjovka) is their Grandmother, yet in the generation between only Jenůfa's stepmother Petrona Slomková (the Kostelnička) appears in the opera. The others are long deceased, and hence the argument between Števa and Laca about who rightfully owns the Buryja mill. The above family tree is based on research through the play and through Gabriela Preissová's own novelisation of the events of the play, which she wrote later in her career. Through these media we find that the old miller died, Grandmother Buryjová's husband, left the mill to his elder son. He married and bore a son called Števa. His wife was a widower with a son already, however, called Laca. Therefore Števa, who is a blood relative to the old miller, is the rightful heir of the mill. Laca resents this greatly. Števa's uncle, a boorish and reckless man, was also married, but his wife died leaving him alone with his young daughter Jenůfa (who was named after her mother). He remarried, but treated his new wife, the Kostelnička, appallingly. Her aria (frequently cut) in Act One explains how she sees Števa's behaviour repeating that of his uncle, and so delays Jenůfa's marriage to him. However, as the opera tells us, the Kostelnička puts into action the horrific events which lead to doom and the possible destruction of her family.


ACT I
Summer

Jenůfa is anxiously awaiting Števa’s return from the annual conscription ceremony. If he is drafted into the army Jenůfa will not be able to marry him and she will be disgraced when people discover that she is pregnant with his child. Laca, jealous of his half-brother's wealth and his relationship with Jenůfa, speaks bitterly to Grandmother Buryjovka of the way she favoured Števa when they were boys. Jenůfa chides him for talking to the old woman with such disrespect. Laca notices Jenůfa's nervousness about Števa's future. Jano, a shepherd boy, excitedly tells Jenůfa that he can now read, thanks to her teaching. Grandmother Buryjovka says that Jenůfa has a man's brain like her stepmother; the Kostelnička (woman sacristan). Jenůfa replies that her brain has long since gone to waste. While the Foreman sharpens Laca's knife, Laca torments Jenůfa about her love for Števa. The Foreman announces that Števa has not, after all, been conscripted. Jenůfa is overjoyed but Laca is angry. Števa, drunk, arrives with the villagers who have been recruited. Jenůfa reproaches him for his drunkenness, which provokes him into boasting that all the girls are attracted to him. He shows off with his money, demands to hear Jenůfa’s favourite song and leads the dancing. The Kostelnička arrives and silences the raucous party. She considers Števa a typical member of the Buryja family and forbids Jenůfa to marry him for a year, during which he must remain sober. Laca is delighted and tries to flatter the Kostelnička, who then leaves. Grandmother Buryjovka sends the musicians away, tells Števa to go and sleep and tries to comfort Jenůfa. Jenůfa begs Števa to behave himself so that they can marry before her pregnancy is revealed. Števa reacts angrily and continues boasting of his conquests. Jenůfa tells him that she will kill herself if he abandons her. Števa reassures her that he will not let her down and admires her rosy cheeks. Grandmother Buryjovka takes him off to bed. Laca mocks Jenůfa about Števa’s boasting but she replies that she is proud her lover is attractive to others. Laca takes out the knife the Foreman sharpened. He wonders how Števa would feel if the rosy cheeks he so admires were spoilt. Suddenly Laca slashes Jenůfa's face. Horrified at what he has done, he tries to tell her that he has always loved her. In the confusion that follows, the servant girl Barena tries to explain the incident as an accident. But the Foreman calls for help and says Laca cut Jenůfa deliberately.


ACT II
Winter

The Kostelnička discovered Jenůfa’s pregnancy and hid her away at her cottage, where, eight days ago, her son was born. Jenůfa is still weak and anxious. The Kostelnička tells her that instead of worrying about the baby (also called Števa) she should be praying to God to let the child die. She sends Jenůfa to bed. Alone, the Kostelnička admits that she hates the baby, just as she hates its father, and has prayed it would not live. Now she will have to beg Števa to marry Jenůfa. She is prepared to humiliate herself and has summoned Števa to her house. Števa arrives. He had thought Jenůfa had gone to Vienna, but now learns from the Kostelnička that Jenůfa is there and that the baby has been born. The Kostelnička pleads with him to acknowledge his son and marry Jenůfa. But Števa can no longer love Jenůfa after seeing her scarred cheek. He is frightened of the Kostelnička, who seems to him like a horrible witch. He tells her he is going to marry Karolka, the mayor's daughter, offers money and hurriedly leaves. Jenůfa cries out in her sleep. The Kostelnička is enraged and wishes she could kill the child and throw it at its father's feet. Laca arrives, having seen Števa leaves, and wants to know if Jenůfa is back (he, too, believed her to be in Vienna); the Kostelnička tells him that Jenůfa did not see Števa. Laca asks permission to marry Jenůfa. The Kostelnička now tells him the truth. Laca is dismayed at the prospect of having to take on Števa’s son, so the Kostelnička, fearing that he will now not want to marry Jenůfa, tells him the child has died and that Števa knows. She sends Laca to find out when Števa is to marry Karolka. The Kostelnička wrestles with her conscience: by killing the baby she will give Jenůfa back her life, and God will understand. Jenůfa wakes from her drugged sleep and wonders where her stepmother and baby are. She wishes Števa would come and see their child, and she imagines she can hear the baby crying. She concludes that the Kostelnička must have taken him to the Buryja mill to show him to everyone. Calmed by this, she offers a prayer to the Virgin Mary. The Kostelnička returns and Jenůfa asks where her son is. The Kostelnička tells her that she has been delirious for two days and her son is dead. Jenůfa accepts this with resignation, remembering that the Kostelnička had said this would be for the best. The Kostelnička tells her of Števa’s visit and his proposed marriage to Karolka, and says she should look kindly on Laca. Laca arrives and asks Jenůfa to marry him, dismissing her doubts as to her worthiness. The Kostelnička blesses them and curses Števa and his planned marriage. But she is frightened when she hears sighing noises: it is as though death were looking into the house.


ACT III
Spring

Preparations are underway for the wedding of Jenůfa and Laca. The mayor and his wife arrive and notice how ill the Kostelnička seems. They discuss Jenůfa's trousseau. Jenůfa thanks Laca for standing by her and he tells her that he will spend the rest of his life making up for the harm he has done her. Števa and Karolka arrive to wish the couple well and Jenůfa tells Števa that she has finally found real love. The stepbrothers seem to be reconciled. As the guests gather, the girls sing a wedding song to Jenůfa. Everyone is preparing to leave for the church and Grandmother Buryjovka gives her blessing to the couple. Voices are heard. Jano tells the mayor that he is wanted: workmen from the brewery sent to cut ice from the stream have found the body of a child. Jenůfa realizes that the dead child is hers. The people assume that she killed the baby and cry out that she should be punished. Laca holds them off, but the Kostelnička silences them with her confession: it was she who killed the child, and she explains why. Karolka is horrified to learn of Števa’s child. Laca blames himself, seeing this tragic event as a consequence of his scarring of Jenůfa. She, however, begins to understand the motives behind the Kostelnička's terrible deed. When the Kostelnička asks Jenůfa's forgiveness, she grants it. The Kostelnička is led off to stand trial. Alone with Laca, Jenůfa tells him he must leave her: he cannot possibly want her in these circumstances. She says he should remember that she forgave him long ago for cutting her face, an act provoked by his love. Laca pleads with her: the world's scorn means nothing if they can comfort each other. Jenůfa gladly accepts his love.


Jenůfa's conclusions and the conclusions of the opera

The end of the opera where 'Jenůfa gladly accepts his love' has always been problematic for commentators on the work. Some have compared the endurance of Laca's love to Jenůfa, and her own immense sufferings as a modern day version of Tamino's and Pamina's trials of fire and water in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. For those of us in the audience who are startled by the events of the opera it is a little harder to swallow. It is possible to view the cosy ending as rather quickly-won, and thus the conclusion of future bliss and love between the two characters as a huge shortcoming. As Jennifer Barnes has commented, 'for the ending to even approach a "conventional happy ending", we would have to accept without flinching, that the mutilation of Jenůfa's face and the murder of her child were both events from which [she] could readily recover'. Furthermore she adds that '[admittedly] the final scene is extraordinarily moving: but can Janáček's music sweep aside the preceding violence to resolve Jenůfa's pain?'. The conclusion comes far too quickly after the revelation of the horrific sacrifice of Jenůfa's face. Even Janáček's triumphant apotheosis of love cannot overcome that. The musically beautiful resolution neither liberates nor aids. Jenůfa is to be ensnared into a life of the same domestic claustrophobia of the previous three acts. It is, in a sense, the Kostelnička who is 'let off' by being taken away from the situation.

However, we must remember that she is being led off for trial, and according to the lawyer Richard Klos's investigation of the case. 'One could summarize perhaps in this way: there is clear evidence of the crime of simple murder, and a number of mitigating factors. The law however was harsh (and so it remained for a long time after, up to the Czechslovak revision in 1934) and gave no possibility to the judge other than a sentence of death'. These comments clearly step away from , Gabriela Preissová's views of the conclusions of the tale in the original Její pastorkyňa play and her later novel on the subject. From reading her novelisation of the events of the opera, which include many details after the fall of the curtain, we learn that Kostelnička was only imprisoned for two years for the murder of little Števuška. After this time Laca and Jenůfa took her away to live in a town where no one knew their story. She is pardoned by those she wronged, where Jenůfa has lost a child and is stuck with the man she has had to 'grow to love'. By how much is her grief really relieved? This is, of course, a more pessimistic view of the closing moments, rather than the glib sunset of Olivier Tambosi's recent production (seen in Britain at the Royal Opera House, and to be seen in January 2003 at the Met). For an opera so concerned with giving a 'slice of life' is seems odd that it ends with a such a large slice of romantic love.




Bibliography:
Ed. John, Nicholas: Jenůfa/Katya Kabanova: Leoš Janáček (London 1985)

for further reading about the conclusion and its problems look at:
Barnes, Jennifer, 'Where are the mothers in opera?' from Girls! Girls! Girls! Essays on Women and Music, ed. Susan Cooper (London 1995)

Tyrrell, John: Janáček’s Operas: A Documentary Account (London: Faber, 1992)

Tyrrell, John, Czech Opera (Cambridge 1988)

as well as Tyrrell's excellent article (along with the Richard Klos discussion) in the 1988 Glyndebourne programme for Jenůfa.

also for interest's sake the reader or fan may wish to investigate J.B. Foerster's opera Eva, which is based on Gabriela Preissová's Gadzina roba (John Tyrrell's investigation in Czech Opera compares the two operas, particularly in their approach to uses of folk idiom)

Cheek, Timothy
Singing in Czech: A Guide to Czech Lyric Diction and Vocal Repertoire
(Lanham: Scarecrow Press, 2001)

Editions:
ed. J. M. Dürr (Vienna: Universal Edition,1969)
(Brnĕnská verze) ed. Sir Charles Mackerras and John Tyrrell (Vienna: Universal Edition, 1996)

Recordings:
Söderström, Randová, Dvorský, Ochman, VPO; Mackerras (Decca 414483)

Karita Mattila, Anja Silja, Eva Randova, Jorma Silvasti, Jerry Hadley, Royal Opera House Chorus and Orchestra; conducted by Bernard Haitink on Warner

More details on how to buy the opera can be found by clicking here