Timothy Cheek

Leoš Janáček

Responding to the ever-increasing popularity and international performances of operas by the Czech composer Leoš Janácek, this collection, meet the needs of English-speaking singers, conductors, coaches, and stage directors and conveniently provides idiomatic and word-for-word translations, including translations of stage and musical directions. In addition, the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is used to indicate Czech pronunciation, following the clearly-presented method given in the author's book Singing in Czech : A Guide to Czech Lyric Diction and Vocal Repertoire, with a foreword by Sir Charles Mackerras. Cheek also provides practical notes about Janácek's style, both in general terms and specific issues relating to this opera along with a plot summary with translations and vocal ranges of characters and the pronunciation of their names. The first volume is the full translation of The Cunning Little Vixen in English alongside the original Czech. The second volume on Kát'a Kabanová, will help make productions in the original Czech much easier a task than ever before.

The Janacek Opera Libretti: Kát'a Kabanová

Opera : Část I: Výlet pána Broučka do Měsíce : Část II: Výlet pana Broučka do XV Stoleti

Výlety páně Broučkovy

Two masterpieces of the late flowering genius of the Czech composer Leos Janacek are the subject of this double volume. Jenufa was the opera which finally brought him international recognition, and, with it. fame at home; it was the fruit of over 25 years of work. It has been called a tragedy with a happy ending, and its moving story seems to embody the spirit of Moravian village life. Katya on the other hand, was composed in an uninterrupted flow during 1920: while it is based on Ostrovky's The Storm, it contains wonderful love music inspired by the old composer's love for a much younger woman. The scores are discussed by Arnold Whittall in a comparative essay, and the background and sources are variously introduced by social and literary historians. John Tyrell comments on an important and newly discovered letter about the genesis of Katya; Sir Charles Mackerras describes his work as an interpreter and advocate of this brilliantly original and dramatic music.

Jenůfa ; Katya Kabanova

Kát'a Kabanová is both the first Janácek opera to have been performed in Britain and the one which has received the most productions in Britain and the USA. In this book John Tyrrell brings together letters, early reviews and other documents (most of them translated from Czech for the first time) on the opera's composition and its early performances. A group of key interpretations of the opera ranges from one by the opera's German translator and Janácek's first biographer Max Brod to specially commissioned essays by Wilfrid Mellers and by David Pountney, producer of the highly successful Welsh National Opera/Scottish Opera Janácek cycle.

Leoš Janáček

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