Postponed only days before it was due to open because of last year’s lockdown, Claus Guth’s Royal Opera production of Janáček’s Jenůfa has finally reached the stage some 18 months after originally planned – albeit with a number of cast changes and a different conductor (Henrik Nánási in place of Vladimir Jurowski). The crucial central pairing of Asmik Grigorian in the title role and Karita Mattila as Kostelnička remains, though. The company’s first new Jenůfa in 20 years, this is also the first time that Guth has directed one of Janáček’s operas. His approach, pitching the work into territory somewhere between Strindberg and German expressionism, is likely to polarise opinion.
Gesine Völlm’s costumes suggest the late 19th century, though rural Moravia is replaced by urban anonymity, and Guth’s symbolism is distractingly heavy-handed in the opening acts. The first takes place not in a mill but a workhouse, where labourers shuffle through soul-destroying daily routines overseen by Elena Zilio’s Grandmother Buryjovka, dominatrixy in black bombazine with a riding crop.
Act Two finds Grigorian and Mattila trapped together in a cage, as an ominous death figure – part human, part raven – prowls round outside and silent, black-clad women (representatives of the moralistic society Kostelnička dreads) gather threateningly in the distance. The last act, where comparative simplicity reigns and emotions are directly confronted, is the finest of the three, and belatedly touching both in Kostelnička’s confession and the closing scene between Jenůfa and Nicky Spence’s Laca.
Musically, there were some inequalities on opening night, as well. Nánási had the measure of the score’s drive and lyricism, but his fondness for dynamic extremes resulted in his at times over-loud orchestra threatening to drown the singers. Spence, who was not at his best here despite the sincerity of his singing and acting, seemed most detrimentally affected. Grigorian, making her house debut, looked vulnerable and sounded lovely but wasn’t as moving as some Jenůfas in the second act.
Mattila, as one might expect, was formidably intense and utterly commanding, if occasionally also hampered by the staging’s excesses. Saimir Pirgu, meanwhile, made an excellent Steva, vapid and attractive, his voice cutting easily through the sometimes ramped up textures. Things will probably settle musically as the run progresses. Guth’s staging, though, may prove an acquired taste.
• Jenůfa is at the Royal Opera House, London, until 12 October. Watch on ROH Stream from 15 October.
