Opera has been a huge passion of mine for goodness knows how long. From the House of the Dead is one of Janacek's least performed works, and one does wonder why I think. It is not his best opera that said, Jenufa and The Cunning Little Vixen(the latter I think is his most accessible) are superior for me, but it is one that does deserve to be performed more than it does. I knew I was in for a treat before watching, Patrice Chereau since his 1980 Bayreuth Ring Cycle and 1994 Wozzeck I have always found interesting as a stage director, Pierre Boulez has always come across to me as enigmatic and I have liked Olaf Bar and John Mark Ainsley in previous productions. This production delivered on every single level. Some may find the production is rather drab and minimalistic and may not like this approach all that much, I personally loved it and thought that it fitted the haunting atmosphere of the opera perfectly. The staging is compelling and full of meaning, the eagle symbolism could have been obvious and heavy-handed but instead thankfully came across as telling. Musically the production is superb, with the orchestral playing powerful and full of pathos and Pierre Boulez's conducting is as enigmatic and perfect in tempo as ever. The singing I also can't fault, Olaf Bar makes for a very convincing nobleman and John Mark Ainsley embodies his role in every regard, it really is an exceptional performance. All in all, a really phenomenal production. 10/10 Bethany Cox
3 Reviews
The epitome of musical drama
wim-vorster29 July 2019
I'm acquainted with Leos Janáek's operas 'Jenufa' and 'The Little Vixen'. However, this is my first encounter with his 100 minute work based on Dostoevsky's 'Memoir From The House Of The Dead'.
The handful of people who read my reviews may complain that I only write raves. That's an accusation I gladly accept. From an early age I learned to be discerning - courtesy of my parents - and I have an instinct, a nose, for what could be good and what not. If I sound audacious, be that as it may. I won't waste time, space or energy on anything infra dig.
'From The House Of The Dead' is an experience. This production, conducted by the enigmatic Pierre Boulez and directed by Patrice Chéreau, is mind-blowing. Janácek's music is in itself ambrosia for the soul. Set in a Siberian prison it deals with the past and present of it's characters. It's a difficult opera to stage, mainly because it requires 17 male soloists and an enormous chorus. Only four women appear for a brief moment to stage a concert - which is never performed - and only one woman sings about four bars.
Prison life ipso facto implicates strong homoerotic undercurrents. Both Dostoevsky and Janácek are/were regarded as either latent homosexual or living it under highly secretive circumstances. In the two so-called pantomime scenes Thierry Thieû Niang's choreography (not dancing but highly stylised movements) the sexual tension is tangible. Moreover the (innocent) nobleman Gorjancikov asks young Alyeya: "Do you have a sister?" And continues: "She must be very beautiful if she looks like you." Henceforth the relationship is tender and mutually protective.
However, neither the libretto or the director focuses only on this aspect. A prison is fraught with danger. Anger. Aggression. And prisoners are stripped of all dignity. Incidentally, the one scene where they're stripped down to their naked bodies is not erotic at all. It's heart wrenching.
Leos Janácek's opera contains no pretty arias. It's durchkomponiert with some superb orchestral interludes which the director visually utilises. Conductor, orchestra, chorus and soloists, director, choreographer and designers make this an unforgettable unit.
Yes, I'm swooning. 10/10
The handful of people who read my reviews may complain that I only write raves. That's an accusation I gladly accept. From an early age I learned to be discerning - courtesy of my parents - and I have an instinct, a nose, for what could be good and what not. If I sound audacious, be that as it may. I won't waste time, space or energy on anything infra dig.
'From The House Of The Dead' is an experience. This production, conducted by the enigmatic Pierre Boulez and directed by Patrice Chéreau, is mind-blowing. Janácek's music is in itself ambrosia for the soul. Set in a Siberian prison it deals with the past and present of it's characters. It's a difficult opera to stage, mainly because it requires 17 male soloists and an enormous chorus. Only four women appear for a brief moment to stage a concert - which is never performed - and only one woman sings about four bars.
Prison life ipso facto implicates strong homoerotic undercurrents. Both Dostoevsky and Janácek are/were regarded as either latent homosexual or living it under highly secretive circumstances. In the two so-called pantomime scenes Thierry Thieû Niang's choreography (not dancing but highly stylised movements) the sexual tension is tangible. Moreover the (innocent) nobleman Gorjancikov asks young Alyeya: "Do you have a sister?" And continues: "She must be very beautiful if she looks like you." Henceforth the relationship is tender and mutually protective.
However, neither the libretto or the director focuses only on this aspect. A prison is fraught with danger. Anger. Aggression. And prisoners are stripped of all dignity. Incidentally, the one scene where they're stripped down to their naked bodies is not erotic at all. It's heart wrenching.
Leos Janácek's opera contains no pretty arias. It's durchkomponiert with some superb orchestral interludes which the director visually utilises. Conductor, orchestra, chorus and soloists, director, choreographer and designers make this an unforgettable unit.
Yes, I'm swooning. 10/10
The absolute utmost masterpiece of the 21st century
Dr_Coulardeau21 October 2011
Warning: Spoilers
The subject is in itself a tremendous provocation since it is an adaptation of a novel by Dostoyevsky but one or two centuries later, which means in a context of post soviet Gulag deportation that continued the Czar's tyranny.
Some Wagnerian accents in the overture are telling us exactly where we are. In a prison camp with high concrete walls and no sight of the sky or whatever fresh from outside. The opening scene is the distribution of water to the thirsty prisoners. The wardens are just plain violent, dressed in some drab green whereas the prisoners are in grey and brown. It is a demonstration of violence from the wardens and of grunting obedience from the prisoners. This scene then moves to the standard fight among prisoners with insults and derogatory terms, and yet the violence is contained if not regulated by some when they announce the arrival of a nobleman. When brought in this one is at once undressed "A prisoner owns nothing!" He has his head shaved. He declares himself a political prisoner. His glasses are discarded but recuperated by a younger prisoner. And the punishment is immediate: one hundred lashes.
One older prisoner has something in a blanket. They chase him for it and discover it is an articulated Czarist eagle. They play with it trying to make it fly away since a bird can, but the game is short lived because they are sent back to work while the half naked nobleman is taken to be whipped.
In the second act the prisoners pick the mess with baskets, sacks and crates. The younger prisoner, Alyeya, and the nobleman are teaming together. Alyeya is telling about his sister and mother. He feels guilty about the grief he has caused to the latter. The nobleman suggests he teaches Alyeya to read and write. It is quitting time. The rest of the day is free, three women arrive with big bags and a stage play is announced. A pope comes in to bless the day in the presence of the prison officials and their wives. It is the occasion of more past telling.
The incoherent one who had started the telling in the first act is coming back with how he killed, out of love, the brother of a certain Luisa he had fallen in love with. The music becomes very romantic during that tale while the actor is turning it into a grotesque undressing and re-dressing episode. He confesses how he killed the brother. The music turns into a chase and the play is going to start. They all get on the bleachers. The play is the Kedril play. A man lives his last day on earth and is chased by devils. It is the occasion for some orgiastic action on the stage between male prisoners and others playing the women. And then the pantomime of the fair miller's wife is announced. With more frolicking between one man playing the miller's wife and many others playing her husband and her lovers, till the miller is damned and taken away by devils.
An argument develops against the nobleman who has tea, which means he can pay for it. One angry man menaces him. Alyeya comes in between and his wounded. The culprit is taken away with rolling drums that seem to mean he is going to be executed on the spot.
The third act is in the dormitory. The prisoners all get kind of crazy, telling bits of stories, ranting and raving, with some violence and the attempt to put everyone to sleep. Two seem to stand apart, Alyeya and the nobleman who has taught him how to write and read, which is some difference here.
Time for one more story. A man, Filka, employed by a rich farmer decides to take his pay, go away and refuse the farmer's daughter telling him he has had her for one year. The farmer becomes furious and the girl is beaten up. She is hastily married to the story-teller. She was a virgin. He goes after Filka who laughs at him and tells him he got married because he was drunk. He goes back to his in-laws accusing them. Then he beats his wife. Filka joins the army. Before leaving he apologizes to the girl and she forgives him. She then acknowledges her love for Filka and her husband takes her to the woods and kills her.
At this very moment one prisoner calls for the guard: one man is dead who is discovered to be Filka. At this moment the nobleman is called by the wardens. The governor of the prison comes to apologize to the nobleman, make peace with him and announce he is free. Before leaving we have a short sad scene between the nobleman and Alyeya who considers the nobleman as his father.
The eagle comes back and manages to fly away by magic. It brings some kind of dream of sweet liberty, but the prison never changes. The wardens send the prisoners back to work, throwing the nobleman out and the scene closes on one crazy prisoner dancing half naked on a bed and Alyeya torn up by pain violently wiggling on the ground.
There is little and a lot to say. The story is absolute pessimism about no future in this world that is nothing but a prison from which you may escape in your dreams for five minutes at night. The music is a marvelous accompaniment, so part of the story and storytelling that you don't even capture it separately. The stage direction is absolutely drab and squalid like the story and the music. We are in front of a masterpiece of the post-post-modern era: there is no future, there is no hope.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU
Some Wagnerian accents in the overture are telling us exactly where we are. In a prison camp with high concrete walls and no sight of the sky or whatever fresh from outside. The opening scene is the distribution of water to the thirsty prisoners. The wardens are just plain violent, dressed in some drab green whereas the prisoners are in grey and brown. It is a demonstration of violence from the wardens and of grunting obedience from the prisoners. This scene then moves to the standard fight among prisoners with insults and derogatory terms, and yet the violence is contained if not regulated by some when they announce the arrival of a nobleman. When brought in this one is at once undressed "A prisoner owns nothing!" He has his head shaved. He declares himself a political prisoner. His glasses are discarded but recuperated by a younger prisoner. And the punishment is immediate: one hundred lashes.
One older prisoner has something in a blanket. They chase him for it and discover it is an articulated Czarist eagle. They play with it trying to make it fly away since a bird can, but the game is short lived because they are sent back to work while the half naked nobleman is taken to be whipped.
In the second act the prisoners pick the mess with baskets, sacks and crates. The younger prisoner, Alyeya, and the nobleman are teaming together. Alyeya is telling about his sister and mother. He feels guilty about the grief he has caused to the latter. The nobleman suggests he teaches Alyeya to read and write. It is quitting time. The rest of the day is free, three women arrive with big bags and a stage play is announced. A pope comes in to bless the day in the presence of the prison officials and their wives. It is the occasion of more past telling.
The incoherent one who had started the telling in the first act is coming back with how he killed, out of love, the brother of a certain Luisa he had fallen in love with. The music becomes very romantic during that tale while the actor is turning it into a grotesque undressing and re-dressing episode. He confesses how he killed the brother. The music turns into a chase and the play is going to start. They all get on the bleachers. The play is the Kedril play. A man lives his last day on earth and is chased by devils. It is the occasion for some orgiastic action on the stage between male prisoners and others playing the women. And then the pantomime of the fair miller's wife is announced. With more frolicking between one man playing the miller's wife and many others playing her husband and her lovers, till the miller is damned and taken away by devils.
An argument develops against the nobleman who has tea, which means he can pay for it. One angry man menaces him. Alyeya comes in between and his wounded. The culprit is taken away with rolling drums that seem to mean he is going to be executed on the spot.
The third act is in the dormitory. The prisoners all get kind of crazy, telling bits of stories, ranting and raving, with some violence and the attempt to put everyone to sleep. Two seem to stand apart, Alyeya and the nobleman who has taught him how to write and read, which is some difference here.
Time for one more story. A man, Filka, employed by a rich farmer decides to take his pay, go away and refuse the farmer's daughter telling him he has had her for one year. The farmer becomes furious and the girl is beaten up. She is hastily married to the story-teller. She was a virgin. He goes after Filka who laughs at him and tells him he got married because he was drunk. He goes back to his in-laws accusing them. Then he beats his wife. Filka joins the army. Before leaving he apologizes to the girl and she forgives him. She then acknowledges her love for Filka and her husband takes her to the woods and kills her.
At this very moment one prisoner calls for the guard: one man is dead who is discovered to be Filka. At this moment the nobleman is called by the wardens. The governor of the prison comes to apologize to the nobleman, make peace with him and announce he is free. Before leaving we have a short sad scene between the nobleman and Alyeya who considers the nobleman as his father.
The eagle comes back and manages to fly away by magic. It brings some kind of dream of sweet liberty, but the prison never changes. The wardens send the prisoners back to work, throwing the nobleman out and the scene closes on one crazy prisoner dancing half naked on a bed and Alyeya torn up by pain violently wiggling on the ground.
There is little and a lot to say. The story is absolute pessimism about no future in this world that is nothing but a prison from which you may escape in your dreams for five minutes at night. The music is a marvelous accompaniment, so part of the story and storytelling that you don't even capture it separately. The stage direction is absolutely drab and squalid like the story and the music. We are in front of a masterpiece of the post-post-modern era: there is no future, there is no hope.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU
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