Tickets for this excellently staged opera by Janacek had obviously proved hard to shift as the ROH offered them at half price a few weeks before the event. I'm glad I took up the offer though it was not an event to send one home with a cheery smile.
The action is set in a Siberian prison and is apparently based on a biographical novel of 1862 by Dostoyesky. Gloom and brutality abound but so too does humanity in the worst of circumstances. There is not a huge plot within the prison itself and most of the lines are different prisoners recounting their past. Sung in Czech, the surtitles are a must but as they are often in quotes reflecting a tale being told, I must admit I got lost at times. On reflection, I also wonder on the significance of the different tales apart from that of two prisoners who find they are connected by one woman. Nonetheless, the air of menace and hopelessness was well-conveyed and in every respect - the cast, perhaps starring, Willard White' the orchestra under Mark Wigglesworth and the direction by Krzyztof Warlikowski were excellent.
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