

Leoš Janáček
The Makropulos Affair
Short instrumentation: 4 3 3 3 - 4 3 3 1 - timp, perc(3), hp, cel, str - stage music: hn(2), tpt(2), timp
Duration: 120'
Dichter der Textvorlage: Karel Capek
Übersetzer: Norman Tucker, Sona Cervena, Michel Ancey, Elijah Moschinsky, Christof Bitter, Max Brod
Klavierauszug von: Ludvik Kundera
Libretto von: Leoš Janáček
Choir: Male choir (TTBB)
Roles:
Emilia Marty
dramatic soprano
Albert Gregor
tenor
Vítek
tenor
Christa
mezzo-soprano
Jaroslav Prus
baritone
Janek
tenor
Advokat Kolenaty
bass-baritone
Strojník
bass
Poklízecka
alto
Hauk-Sendorf
operetta tenor
Komorná
alto
Lékar
silent
Instrumentation details:
1st flute
2nd flute
3rd flute
4th flute
1st oboe
2nd oboe
cor anglais
1st clarinet in Bb
2nd clarinet in Bb
bass clarinet in Bb
1st bassoon
2nd bassoon
contrabassoon
1st horn in F
2nd horn in F
3rd horn in F
4th horn in F
1st trumpet in F
2nd trumpet in F
3rd trumpet in F
1st trombone
2nd trombone
3rd trombone
tuba
timpani
percussion(3)
harp
celesta
violin I
violin II
viola
violoncello
contrabass
stage music: 1st horn in F
2nd horn in F
1st trumpet in F
2nd trumpet in F
timpani
Janácek - Die Sache Makropulos
Translation, reprints and more

Leoš Janáček
Janá?ek: Die Sache MakropulosType: Libretto/Textbuch (Sonderanfertigung)
Language: Tschechisch
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Leoš Janáček
Janáček: The Makropulos AffairType: Klavierauszug
Language: Deutsch | Tschechisch
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Work introduction
The Makropulos Affair, Janácek’s eighth and, at the same time, penultimate opera belongs to the most frequently produced operas of the 20th century. The opera is based on the drama by Karel Capek that Janácek got to see in Brno in January 1923. It was here when he started to think about the Čapek’s drama to base his new opera on. At the beginning, Capek was not very excited about this idea. Eventually, in September 1923 Capek agreed so Janácek could start composing on November 11, 1923. He finished and corrected the manuscript on December 3, 1925. The opera was premièred in the National Theatre in Brno on December 18, 1926 and the reception was better than originally expected thanks to the production team of director Otakar Zítko and conductor František Neumann.
What is so attractive about The Makropulos Affair? Maybe its turbulent detective story, its mysteriousness and fantasticalness. Maybe also its modern setting where characters use telephones (by the way, this is the very first opera where a telephone is used) or take a taxi. Unlike his previous opera The Cunning Little Vixen, The Makropulos Affair is the opposite of the common, as its characters, story and setting are exceptional and somewhat exclusive. At the same time, it is a story of an unhappy woman forced to live for three hundred years, thus becoming against her will an emotionally burnt-out creature. Why does The Makropulos Affair disturb us on one hand and move us on the other? It may be caused by its author’s musical speech based on very short, even aphoristic motifs put in layers and attacking us in a terse, turbulent movement in connections with dynamics of the acting characters. Or is the film condensation used to narrate the story close to us in some way? Surely there are lots of things about this work that draw our attentions and due to which it is considered one of the peaks of the world music theatre of the 20th century.
Jirí Zahrádka