The Cunning Little Vixen
The Cunning Little Vixen | |
---|---|
Opera by Leoš Janáček | |
Native title | Czech: Příhody lišky Bystroušky |
Librettist | Leoš Janáček |
Language | Czech |
Based on | serialized novella by Rudolf Těsnohlídek and Stanislav Lolek |
Premiere | 6 November 1924 |
The Cunning Little Vixen (original title Příhody lišky Bystroušky or Tales of Vixen Sharp-Ears in English), is a three-act Czech-language opera by Leoš Janáček completed in 1923 to a libretto the composer himself adapted from a novella by Rudolf Těsnohlídek.
Name
The opera's libretto was adapted by the composer from a 1920 serialized novella, Liška Bystrouška, by Rudolf Těsnohlídek, which was first published in the newspaper Lidové noviny (with illustrations by Stanislav Lolek).[1] For the title of the opera, Příhody means tales; lišky is the genitive of vixen. Bystroušky, still genitive, is the pun sharp, having the double meaning of pointed, like fox ears, and clever. The opera first became familiar outside Czechoslovakia in a 1927 German adaptation by Max Brod who provided the new name Das schlaue Füchslein, by which Germans still know it and which in English means The Cunning Little Vixen.
Composition
When Janáček discovered Těsnohlídek's
The opera incorporates Moravian folk music and rhythms as it recounts the life of a clever (alternative reading: sharp-eared) fox and accompanying wildlife, as well as a few humans, and their small adventures while traversing their lifecycles.[3][4] Described as a comic opera,[5] it has nonetheless been noted to contain a serious theme.[6] Interpretations of the work remain varied, ranging from children's entertainment to tragedy.[4]
Performance history
The first non-Czech performance took place in Mainz, Germany, in 1927 in an adaptation by
The opera received its Italian premiere at La Scala in 1958 with Mariella Adani in the title role. The work was first staged in England in 1961 by the Sadler's Wells Opera Company (now the
In 2023, the opera was staged in São Paulo, directed by Ira Levin and production by André Heller-Lopes, taking a surrealistic approach.[10]
Roles
Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 6 November 1924 (Conductor: František Neumann) | |
---|---|---|---|
Sharp-Ears (Bystrouška) the Vixen | soprano | Hana Hrdličková-Zavřelová | |
Gold-Stripe (Zlatohřbítek) the Fox | soprano or mezzo-soprano | Božena Snopková | |
Forester (Revírník) | baritone | Arnold Flögl | |
Parson | bass | ||
Schoolmaster | tenor | Antonín Pelc | |
Harašta, a poultry dealer | bass | Ferdinand Pour | |
Supporting roles: | |||
Forester's wife | contralto | ||
Lapák, a dog | mezzo-soprano | Marta Dobruská | |
Chocholka, a hen | soprano | Vlasta Kubiková | |
Rooster | soprano | ||
Bit roles: | |||
Pepík, Forester's grandson | soprano | Božena Polaková | |
Frantík, Pepík's friend | soprano | Milada Rabasová | |
Pásek, an innkeeper | tenor | Bedřich Zavadil | |
Mrs. Páskova, Pásek's wife | soprano | Jelena Jezicová | |
Young Vixen Bystrouška | child soprano | ||
Cricket | child soprano | ||
Young Frog | child soprano | ||
Grasshopper | child soprano | ||
Jay | soprano | ||
Owl | contralto | ||
Woodpecker | contralto | ||
Mosquito | tenor | ||
Badger | bass | ||
Chorus roles: | |||
Hens | women's chorus (SA) | ||
Forest Creatures | women's chorus (SA) | ||
Voice of the Forest | mixed chorus (SAATTBB) | ||
Fox Cubs | [children's] chorus | ||
Ballet roles: | |||
Blue Dragonfly, Midges, Apparition of the Vixen as a girl, Hedgehog, Squirrels, a Young Vixen, Forest Creatures |
According to instructions in the score, four pairs of roles may be performed by the same singer: Parson/Badger, Schoolmaster/Mosquito, Forester's Wife/Owl, and Rooster/Jay. Janácek later required that Lapák, Rooster, and Chocholka be sung by "girls approximately fifteen years old."
Synopsis
Act 1
In the forest, the animals and insects are playing and dancing. The forester enters and lies down against a tree for a nap. A curious vixen cub (often sung by a young girl), inquisitively chases a frog right into the lap of the surprised forester who forcibly takes the vixen home as a pet. Time passes (in the form of an orchestral interlude) and we see the vixen, now grown up into a young adult (and sung by a soprano) tied up in the forester's yard with the conservative old dachshund. Fed up with life in confinement, the vixen chews through her rope, attacks the rooster and hen, kills the other chickens, jumps over the fence and runs off to freedom.
Act 2
The vixen takes over a badger's home and kicks him out. At the inn, the parson, the forester, and the schoolmaster drink and talk about their mutual infatuation with the gypsy girl Terynka. The drunken schoolmaster leaves the inn and mistakes a sunflower behind which the vixen is hiding for Terynka, professing his devotion to her. The forester, also on his way home, sees the vixen and fires two shots at her, sending her running. Later, the vixen, coming into her adulthood, meets a charming boy fox, and they retire to the badger's home. An unexpected pregnancy and a forest full of gossipy creatures necessitate their marriage, which rounds out the act.
Act 3
The poacher Harašta is engaged to Terynka and is out hunting in preparation for their marriage. He sets a fox trap, which the numerous fox and vixen cubs mock. Harašta, watching from a distance, shoots and kills the vixen, sending her children running. At Harašta's wedding, the forester sees the vixen's fur, which Harašta gave to Terynka as a wedding present, and flees to the forest to reflect. He returns to the place where he met the vixen, and sits at the tree, grieving the loss of both the vixen and Terynka. His grief grows until, just as in the beginning of the opera, a frog unexpectedly jumps in his lap, the grandson of the one who did so in Act 1. This reassurance of the cycle of death bringing new life gives his heart a deep peace.
Music
Apart from The Excursions of Mr. Brouček, this is Janáček's lightest opera, and, despite the titular vixen's death at the end of the work, it stands in contrast to the often brutally serious nature of operas such as Jenůfa and Káťa Kabanová. In The Cunning Little Vixen, the composer moved away from the more conversational style of previous and subsequent operas in favor of a more folk-like style, and wove into its fabric some of his most experimental opera concepts (ballet, mime, and orchestral interludes).
Janáček based The Cunning Little Vixen's tonality on modes (similarly to much output during his last decade), expanding the music's harmonic range through the utilisation of the seventh and ninth chords.[11] The composition makes frequent use of folk-influenced rhythms and "sčasovka" (personally-coined term for a short motif), while it has been noted to contain similarities to the music of French composer Claude Debussy.[11]
At Janáček's request, the final scene from The Cunning Little Vixen was performed at his funeral in 1928.
Recordings
- Prague National Theatre Chorus and Orchestra/Bohumil Gregor (Supraphon SU 3071-2612)
- Royal Opera House Chorus and Orchestra/Simon Rattle, recorded 1991 (Chandos 3101(2), sung in English)
- Wiener Staatsopernchor & Philharmoniker/Charles Mackerras, recorded 1981 (Decca 417 129-2)
- Orchestre de Paris/Charles Mackerras, video recorded 1995 (Kultur D4544, OCLC 698051148)
- London Symphony Orchestra/Simon Rattle, 2020 (LSO Live, LSO0850)
Arrangements
- Orchestral suite of the opera by Václav Talich, performed by Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor Václav Talich
- Orchestral suite of the opera by Václav Talich, performed by Boston Symphony Orchestra, conductor Erich Leinsdorf
- Orchestral suite of the opera by Václav Talich, performed by Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor Charles Mackerras
- Entr'actes from the opera, arrangement by František Jílek, performed by Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor Jakub Hrůša
- Music from the opera for brass quintet, arrangement by František Jílek, performed by Brno Brass Quintet, ar Vlastimil Bialas
- Cut version of the opera for an animated film, arrangement by Kent Nagano, in English, texted Geoff Dunbar, performed by soloists, Berlin German Symphony Orchestra, conductor Kent Nagano
Films
- In 1965, Walter Felsenstein directed a filmed version in German (Das schlaue Füchslein).
- In 1990, the BBC broadcast the opera from the Royal Opera House, conducted by Simon Rattle with Lillian Watson as the vixen, Diana Montague as the fox and Thomas Allen as the forester. The broadcast was directed by Barrie Gavin.[12]
- In 2003, an animated version was produced by the BBC.[13]
Adaptations
Ursula Dubosarsky's 2018 novel for children, Brindabella, is based on Rudolf Těsnohlídek's Vixen Sharp Ears, the source story of the Cunning Little Vixen,[14] relocated in the Australian bush, with the role of the Vixen played by a kangaroo.[15][16]
References
Notes
- ISBN 0-671-49218-7.
- ^ .
- ^ Cheek 2004, p. 6
- ^ a b Zemanová 2002 [page needed]
- ^ "Leoš Janáček | Czech composer". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ Rupert Christiansen, "The Cunning Little Vixen, Glyndebourne, review", The Telegraph (London), 12 May 2012
- ^ Shawe-Taylor, D. Opera Diary : The Cunning Little Vixen. Sadler's Wells, 24 March and 6 April. Opera, May 1961, p338-341.
- ^ Max Loppert. The Cunning Little Vixen. English National Opera at the London Coliseum, 9 June. Opera, August 1988, p994-96.
- ^ Rian Evans. The Cunning Little Vixen. Welsh National Opera at the Wales Millenium Centre, 4 October. Opera, December 2019, p1587.
- ^ Folha de São Paulo, 07-20-2023.
- ^ a b Zemanová 2002, p. 178
- ^ [1]
- IMDb
- ^ "Opera at Peabody - The Adventures of Sharp-Ears the Vixen". www.peabodyopera.org. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ "Brindabella - Ursula Dubosarsky, illustrated by Andrew Joyner - 9781760112042 - Allen & Unwin - Australia". www.allenandunwin.com. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ "Ursula Dubosarsky". Ursula Dubosarsky. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
Sources
- ISBN 0-14-029312-4
- Janáček, Leoš (Timothy Cheek) (2004), The Janáček Opera Libretti: Káťa Kabanová, Scarecrow Press.
- ISBN 978-0-19-920383-3.
- Sokol, Martin L. (1981), The New York City Opera – An American Adventure, Macmillan. ISBN 0-02-612280-4
- ISBN 0-19-869164-5
- Zemanová, Mirka (2002), Janáček: A Composer's Life, ISBN 978-1-55553-549-0