SPRING 2006
- ETO REVIEW'S JENUFA ***** The company's Jenufa is truly astounding… ETO's cast is stunning: Dwayne Jones's Laca, Richard Roberts's Steva and the gorgeous Amanda Echalaz - last year's Alcina - as Jenufa (despite some disappointing diction in Act I) were all wonderful in their way, and should be snapped up by Garsington, Grange Park or Glyndebourne. Best by a mile, however (and that came as no surprise) was the spectacularly brilliant Anne Mason as the crazed murderess and child-killer, Kostelnicka. What a psychological thriller this proves, with its myriad of mixed motives. But that's Preissova's skill (turn-of-the-century Czech opera had a surfeit of remarkable female dramatists), even before you add Janacek's electrifying music. The conductor Michael Rosewell excelled himself in the pit, abetted by some wonderful playing (truly shivering middle and lower strings, not least). I particularly liked Eddie Wade's admirably sung Mill Foreman; the mayoral group was amusing, too. THE TIMES English Touring Opera is a company that has rarely played it safe — and choosing to include Janácek’s Jenufa in its spring season is certainly another gamble. From Sheffield to It helps that Amanda Echalaz’s dignified, contemplative Jenufa is every bit her equal and Echalaz’s richly coloured soprano may be a tad frail on top, but she finds both passion and resignation in her searing outpourings. Both women look to the matriarch, Grandmother Burya, for guidance, but Linda Hibberd’s memorable cameo can only offer powerless subordination to social convention. Michael Rosewell, the conductor, has the full measure of this hypnotic, pulsing score, and with two well-observed performances by the tenors Richard Roberts and Dwayne Jones as Steva and Laca completing the line-up, Janácek’s drama has been given both an ensemble and production that vividly draw out its universal themes. THE SUNDAY TIMES Conway’s staging of Janacek’s masterpiece also eschewed elaborate scenery in favour of ensemble acting and powerful singing. Anne Mason’s devastatingly played and sung Kostelnicka, and Amanda Echalaz’s tragic but ultimately radiant Jenufa, with excellent support from Dwayne Jones’s burly Laca and Bracegirdle’s handsome, feckless Steva, were so involving that it scarcely mattered. And the great thing about this Jenufa is that it will be seen in places where Janacek’s wonderful operas rarely venture. THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY Amanda Echalaz is a born Jenufa: tall, bright-eyed, sensitive and serious, with a voice that has muscle, intelligence and delicacy. Most remarkably, she, Anne Mason (The Kostelnicka), and Linda Hibberd (Grandmother Burya) have adopted the crazy-mirror body-language of people who have lived as a family. Mason's Kostelnicka is a tragic figure, brittle with badly expressed love, Dwayne Jones's Laca too scarred by the same disease to understand his own actions. From Harrington's sweet-voiced Jano to the maids Kolusina and Barena (Helen Johnson and Anna Wall), Martin Lamb's Mayor, Mosley-Evans's Foreman, and Richard Roberts's spineless Steva, this is a very strong, highly committed cast. OPERA MAGAZINE Anne Mason follows up her ETO Mary Stuart with an even more involving Kosteknička, fearlessly sung and gut-wrenchingly acted… It’s thrilling that this wonderful opera will be seen in places as far-flung as Poole and |
English Touring Opera gratefully acknowledges the financial support of Arts Council England.
