Janos Gereben <[log in to unmask]> writes:

>There is a self-inflicted curse on Leos Janacek's "Cunning Little Wixen."
>Its music, some of the most magical in all opera, is automatically damaged
>in a staged performance.  In fact, the bigger the production, the more the
>work suffers.

This last may be true, and the Berlin production Mr Gereben describes
sounds horrid; but "automatically damaged"? In my experience, quite the
reverse.  "CLV" positively demands staging, and only really comes to life
in the theatre - provided of course it's performed (in Britain that is) in
English.  He has clearly missed out on Jonathan Miller's great Glyndebourne
production a quarter of a century ago, and many others since.

Then, after attacking the audience for daring to applaud the music ....

>Yes, the proper way to present "Wixen" is either in a concert performance
>or as a symphonic suite.

What a bizarre idea!  Of course, Talich's retouched "Symphonic Suite"
without all those supererogatory words did have some point before people
outside the Czech Republic had the chance to see Janacek's opera live, but
who wants the thing now?

This Olympian patronage would have infuriated Janacek, who fought tooth
and nail to get his works off the concert platform and onto the place
they really belong - the stage.  Particularly in a work where the human
parallels are everything, provided they aren't formalized in the way the
well-meaning but disaster-prone Max Brod attempted (he ruined Kafka too!),
we can't make much sense of events unless we can associate real people and
actions with the thoughts, feelings and situations we experience in the
music and - sorry to mention this - the text.

I'm loathe to pick on Mr Gereben yet again.  In truth, I never took much
notice of his amiable reports before now; but I'm increasingly baffled
as to why the poor man puts himself through the pain of going to the opera
house at all.  I suffer for him.  He would clearly much rather be listening
to these musical feasts without the cumulative distractions of the stage,
the singers, the audience - and especially the words ....

Christopher Webber,  Blackheath, London,  UK.
http://www.nashwan.demon.co.uk/zarzuela.htm
"ZARZUELA!"