Leoš Janáček The Cunning Little Vixen opera to
libretto by the composer. Directed by André Engel in 2008 with the
Opéra national de Paris at the Opéra Bastille.
Stars Elena Tsallagova, Jukka Rasilainen, Michèle Lagrange, David Kuebler
Roland Bracht, Paul Gay, and Hannah Esther Minutillo. Dennis Russell Davies conducts the
Orchestra of the Opéra national de Paris, the Choir of the Opéra national de Paris,
and the Childrens' Choir of the Opéra national de Paris (Maîtrise des Hauts-de-Seine).
Stage design by Nicky Rieti; costumes by Elizabeth Neumuller; choreography
by Françoise Grès; lighting by André Diot.
Released in 2009, this disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound.
It is available now from Amazon in these countries:
USA,
UK,
Germany,
Canada, or
France.
[In a work inspired by a comic strip, Janáček says animals that act
like people are happier than people who act like animals. People just use their
smarts to destroy themselves with envy and remorse. Still, the forester (Janáček), listening
to the animals, achieves the bliss of resignation. Since the libretto is free of all moorings, anything
can happen. In a fiery parody of Lenin, the vixen incites the hens to revolt against the cock. When the
hens hesitate, she does what a fox does to hens---she kills them all. When daddy fox woos vixen, his
lines are a direct knock off of Rodolfo declaring love to Mimi in La Bohème. Well, Mimi gets
a muff and then dies. In subject libretto, vixen dies and gets made into a muff. Such zaniness seems normal
while intoxicated on Janáček's smooth, discord-free musical cocktail: one part shifting arrays
of sound (Debussy), one part folk songs (Dvorak), and a twist of Phillip Glass (who came later, of course).
This short productions should be popular with children on account of the delightful presentation
of the animals and their antics. And there's plenty for the adults to ponder but without troubling
the little ones. Impeccable production all round by the Paris National Opera; the usual menu mysteries
from Idéale Audience. Henry McFadyen, Jr.]
[I watched the idéaleaudience Cunning Little Vixen last night on HDVD after having seen an actual performance
of the same production at the Opera Bastille a week before. At last--- a chance to compare HDVD with Live!
The HDVD does faithfully represent the work and the production. But to be totally, brutally honest,
I was disappointed in the HDVD when compared to my memory of the live show.
We had extremely good seats at the live opera which let us see and hear very well. Having the
overtitles way up above us in the real opera hall did not make it easy to follow the "plot"--- although
that isn't much of a problem for this simple libretto. Compared to the live performance,
the HDVD version seemed "closed in" or even claustrophobic. Especially the close-ups!
My home theater can't convey the feeling of space you get in an opera house that has
ceilings 100 ft high. Nor does it convey the sense of expectation you get when 2,800
eople are all sharing the same experience. With the memory of the "real thing" so fresh, I
guess my home theater letdown was to be expected. And if we had been in cheaper seats
further back and higher up, then I might have been happier with the HDVD in comparison to the opera house.
When I see something good in my home theater, I feel that what I'm getting is "better than being there."
But my recent experience with the Cunning Little Vixen does indicate that the BTBT factor
is relative. And in any case, we can't "be" everywhere. So the privilege we enjoy
of seeing wonderful HDVD productions under good conditions in the comfort
of our own homes remains very valuable. Gordon Smith July 2010]