Although I have not seen the SF "Vixen", I have been carefully reading
your descriptions and comments (Janos Gereben's initial review helped a
lot) and I found I often agreed with Jeff Dunn who, amongst other things,
wrote:

>To stick the Forester, the Janacek surrogate, in a pub for the duration
>of the opera denies a major aspect of Janacek's personality epitomized
>by this more than any of his operas, the wonder and restorative powers
>of nature.

The wondrous Mackerras version (1995), recorded in Czech at the
Chatelet in Paris with the Chatelet Chorus and the Orchestre de Paris
(and encoded on DVD for all regions), might enchant you as much as it
did me.  Eva Jenis sings the Vixen, Thomas Allen, again the Forester,
and Hana Minutillo, the Fox.  The ingenious sets and costumes, which
seem true to Janacek's aspirations, are by Bob Crowley and it is staged
by Nichola Hayter.  The French choreographer Jean-Claude Galotta provides
a necessary stylized touch...

Janacek was born exactly one hundred and fifty years ago on the
third of July 1854 and watching this particular opera seems a fitting
celebration.  'Celebrating' since Saturday the third, I have also listened
to his two vibrant string quartets, as always intense and alive, then,
still penetrated by the sense of loss, the sadness and rebellion of his
piano Sonata 1.X.1905, I turned to his exuberant Sinfonietta, militarily,
but so poetically and humanely full of colour and light.  Hesitant, yet
airy and flowing, with touches of turmoil and passion, Pohadka held me
in its spell before the strong waves of the extraordinary Glagolitic
Mass engulfed me.

And once more, I could but admire the genius and profound sense of
humanity of a musician who can pour life into the 'impossible' tale,
operawise, which became "The House of the Dead"...  Before that, a violin
sang me some of the themes which belonged first of all to the "Wandering
of a Little Soul", concerto judiciously reconstructed by Faltus and
Stedron.

Of course I did not forget the noble, fiery, ferocious "Taras Bulba" or
the Capriccio or...  so much more!

As you can see, the admiration and tenderness I feel for Janacek has no
bounds but the strong attraction his music holds for me personally does
not alter the fact that Janacek, after Dvorak and Smetana and before
Martinu, breathed strong life into music essentially Czech, enriching
the very notion and enriching the musical world.

Yes, well... it's fine music... Isn't it?

Christine Labroche