This Saturday evening, the Washington National Opera opens its highly anticipated production of Leoš Janáček’s Jenůfa. This is only the second Janáček opera in the history of the WNO, with one Cunning Little Vixen done in English translation in 1993. This new production directed by David Alden premiered at Houston Grand Opera in 2004: after it played to critical success last fall at English National Opera, it won the Laurence Olivier Award for best new opera production. Catherine Malfitano will reprise her lauded performance as the Kostelnička, and American soprano Patricia Racette will take over the title role. Some of the supporting cast, as well as conductor Jiří Bělohlávek, will be the same as the excellent production at the Met earlier this year. Having witnessed the dress rehearsal earlier this week, I predict that this opera will be the high point of WNO’s season.

So why have none of the performances sold out, not even opening night? Unawareness of the power of the Janáček operas is not limited to Washington. Even the Met did not sell out its production of Jenůfa, and that was with a cast that included Karita Mattila and Anja Silja. Furthermore, in spite of the stellar casting, including the very photogenic Mattila, who is perfect for the Gelb closeup, Jenůfa did not make the cut for the simulcast in movie theaters this year. So, for taking a risk on Janáček, we applaud WNO and hope that the company is not punished too badly by poor ticket sales. You should do your part to make sure that does not happen.

The story centers on a beautiful young girl in a Moravian village and her relationship with the young owner of the local mill, Števa, who has gotten her pregnant. Števa’s thoughtless, drunken behavior irritates Jenůfa’s domineering stepmother, whom everyone calls the Kostelnička, or the sacristan’s wife (an important position in the village church). A distant relative, Laca, is also in love with Jenůfa and out of jealousy threatens the girl and slices her face with a knife at the end of Act I. Jenůfa gives birth to a baby son while hidden away by her stepmother, but the scar on her face and the baby drive Števa to get engaged to the mayor’s daughter instead. The Kostelnička knows that Laca still wants to marry Jenůfa, but something has to be done about Števa’s baby. In many ways, the role of the Kostelnička, who tries to resolve the situation, is the most important one in the opera. In fact, the opera’s actual Czech title is Její pastorkyňa (Her stepdaughter), the title of the source work, a play by Gabriela Preissová.

Catherine Malfitano as the Kostelnička, Jenůfa, directed by David Alden, English National Opera