Almost everybody outside the Czech Republic, at least until the 2000’s, has probably discovered Janacek’s operas in the Decca series of studio recordings with the Vienna Philharmonic and Charles Mackerras, whose lifetime experience and study of the original scores are acknowledged even in the composer’s homeland. I myself first listened to the Decca Katja Kabanova in preparation for the live performance at the Covent Garden under the baton of Charles Mackerras himself.
In the CD’s booklet, Mackerras explains a dual tradition in the Czech Republic for the performance of Janacek’s score – while in Brno Janacek’s music would be performed with all the sharp angles in the composer’s orchestration, in Prague one would tend to round them off and present a more Romanticized approach. I can’t even dream of offering a deep analysis of Tomas Netopil’s position in that regard, but I would bet he doesn’t belong to the sharp-angle party. Yes, The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande is hardly the right vehicle for the punchy or the tangy, but still, as performed today, Katja Kabanova sounded the Czech answer to Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande. Beautiful and subdued as it was, I’m not sure that this is the idea, unless it is luring new audiences with the garden variety of a big, exotic palm tree.
In terms of singing, this was a strong cast. I was not truly wowed by Corinne Winters’ Jenufa last season, but her Katja was richly sung in round, homogeneous, warm sounds. One can almost say that she has used Elisabeth Söderström in the studio recording as a reference, and if she did, that was a wise idea. I am less convinced by Elena Zhidkova’s Kabanicha. Maybe I’m too used to Nadezhda Kniplová’s icy, incisive singing, and it took me a while to get used to the velvetier sound and less than dead-on-the note phrasing.
Although the three tenors in the cast sang well and were alright contrasted, I can’t again avoid the comparison with the Decca recording, where Petr Dvorsky offers a full-throated Italianate quality as Boris that makes one understand why Katja found him hard to resist. Here Ales Briscsein did sound a tad more focused and brighter in his high notes than this evening’s Tichon, Magnus Vigilus. Yet compared to Dvorsky, both sound rather on the Spieltenor end of the spectrum. Sam Furness (Kudrjas), on the other hand, offered a darker, grainier sound and a more cantabile approach to phrasing.
Finally, Erna Pomgrac’s fruity, youthful mezzo is the right voice for the part of Varvara, and Tómas Tómasson’s straightforward approach to the role of Dikoj proved to be quite refreshing too.
“Puzzling” is the word I’d use to describe Tatjana Gürbaca’s staging. When one sees the architectural model-like sets, one could imagine that the idea was to put on a clean view of an opera that turns around the paroxysmal. My question is – isn’t it like trying to make a non sour key lime pie or a non bitter bar of dark chocolate? As it was, the staging felt emotionally insipid and ultimately nonsensical. Ms. Winters is hardly the sacro fuoco kind of singing actress, but here she was made to look studied and self-possessed as if she were a character in an operetta. Similarly, the bespectacled Boris with a goofy attitude makes it seem as if there were two Tichons in the story. Could you stage it as if Katja falls for him just because he’s there regardless of his attractiveness? Maybe, but the director didn’t sell me this concept, if this was the idea at all. The whole half-drunk/half-skank approach to the role of Kabanicha made sense in an unexpected way. The nature of her relationship with Dikoj leaves no room for doubt), and one almost understand why she is so mean to Katja. Even if one could argue that this is not officially the story in the libretto, one must concede that here (and maybe only here) the Personenregie could put across the message. I have to say that the last act was for me a turn off – the omnipresent of every member of the cast repeating ad nauseam little pointless routines voided Katja’s feeling of alienation, which is central to these scenes. The final impression was a caricature of East German theatre in the 80’s in its low budget stylization and pseudo-intellectualism.
I HEAR VOICES 
Love this opera. Thought the recent Salzburg production was terrific. Nice to see a positive Soderstrom comment haha.
Hello, Peter! In Salzburg, it was Winters too, wasn’t it? How was the Boris there?
As for Söderström, yep, it wasn’t the most seductive voice in the world, but it was ideal for Katja Kabanova (I wouldn’t say the same thing of her Jenufa, although she sings well and is committed and stylish as usual there). She had the right blend of intensity and lyricism in the role.
I thought David Butt was quite good but I guess you would have the same comments about him since he was along the same lines as Briscsein as you describe. Very well sung and acted though. Winters was quite good, I think that reserve and self possession is just her though if I’m being honest. The Salzburg production got more out of her but it was still kind of the same deal. Something about the writing works better for her though as Katja than Jenufa.
Soderstrom was probably past her prime when she recorded Jenufa commercially, the Katja is the only one of those recordings where she’s in consistently good voice. She was devastating to see in all three roles though.
I suppose that most tenors in the role of Boris are rather the Briscein than the Dvorsky type, what I find a bit sad. I don’t think that Katja is really in love with Boris. She barely knows who he is. The way I see it, Katia is desperately trying to get away – and she has tries all the replacements for freedom: God, marriage, sex and finally death. In all cases, it has a feeling that she is surrendering to something that is supposed to be bigger than her (i.e., nature). The play is called “The Storm”, there is this symbolism of the river etc etc. That is why I believe that she must see some sort of natural, animal energy in Boris (and that’s what attracts her). When you have a natural, hearty tenor voice, than you can “feel” it in the sound. I don’t know if Beczala sang it (I don’t think he would sing a part like that now), but it would have been fine.
I didn’t want to write that the self-possession is a Winters rather than a Gürbaca thing, because I would be guessing (I have only seen Winters in her productions), but I could believe that. I guess that the part of Jenufa requires an intrinsically more lyric voice, with a warm, round, appealing middle register and the ability to float mezza voce, something more Straussian. With Katja, rich, full top notes are the prime requirement. And Winters has that. I thought she sang really well – it was consistent, solid, musical. I could hear her singing something like the Vier letzte Lieder while I was watching that Jenufa.
Yep, Söderström does not sound young enough as Jenufa in the studio recording. And Jenufa has to sound young. You have told me – and you’re not the only one – that one had to see Söderström live to understand what was all about. To be honest, I missed the “devastating” thing in the Geneva performance – musically and dramatically. I find the story rather bleak and depressing and I don’t see any point in trying to make it lighter. In the end, she really dies. It’s not like “in a good way”, it’s really a sad story.
I agree about Boris. On the Bareclona DVD with Mattila, the tenor is physically and dramatically a bit more my mental picture of Boris. The singer isn’t great and is not glamorous but he has a powerful sound and is a bit more hulking and conventionally manly. This of course works for Mattila, who isn’t really naturally a demure retiring type. I saw Benackova in concert when she made her US debut and the tenor there, a man named William Lewis, was quite good. That concert had Kniplová and I agree that she has cast something of a shadow over other women I’ve seen in the role.
I definitely like Soderstrom on that recording more than you do. I find her textually expressive enough and good enough musician that I think there are rewards when just listening to her. It was odd hearing her in Jenufa opposite Jurinac (best I’ve seen in the role) and having the step mother be the one with the more glamorous voice though. That being said Soderstrom was a strong candidate for the best actor I’ve seen in a opera among women. I think she could have given the same performance in spoken word and would not have had to adjust her physical performance at all.