Jenůfa

"Jerí pastorkyňa" is the original title of Leoš Janáček's most famous opera. And it tells us something crucial right away: There are two women who have not only experienced happiness. One, Jenůfa, grows up without a biological mother. The other, the sexton Buryja, married a widower after the death of her husband, who died of alcoholism, and brought a daughter into the marriage. The older one recognizes herself in the younger one: Jenůfa loves Števa, who is unfaithful to her and addicted to alcohol, and by whom she is unintentionally pregnant. His stepbrother Laca loves Jenůfa. Out of jealousy, he disfigures her with a knife. Out of love, Buryja wants to save Jenůfa's honor and kills her newborn. Leoš Janaček landed a global success with his opera, first performed in Brno in 1904, only after its Prague premiere in 1916. Director Calixto Bieito frees the family tragedy from any folklorism and opens Jenůfas and Laca's impassable love to the utopia of forgiveness.