Jenufa

Book excerpt: Czech composer Leoš Janáček’s most famous opera, Jenůfa is a harrowing tale of forbidden love, abandonment, hypocrisy, desperation, and tragic infanticide. As today’s second most frequently performed Czech opera (following Dvorák’s Rusalka), Jenůfa holds a prominent place in international opera repertoire and continues to draw the attention of new audiences. Drawing on both scholarly studies and production experience, Timothy Cheek presents an original English-language translation of the original Czech libretto. As with the first two books in the Janáček Opera Libretti series (Příhody lišky Bystroušky, The Cunning Little Vixen and Kát’a Kabanová), this volume consists of two parts. Part One gives background on the opera, a discussion about the various voice types and roles, Janáček’s style and Czech performance traditions, Czech folk costumes, and a summary of Czech pronunciation and inflection. Part Two provides the original Czech libretto, word-for-word English translations, idiomatic English translations, IPA for pronunciation of the Czech, translations of the stage directions, and notes about certain words in Czech dialect. As a valuable resource not only for performers and directors, but also historians and opera lovers, this book brings new accessibility to a beloved and timeless opera.