The 2006-07 season of the Washington National Opera comes to a close next week, with a concert appearance by several of its singers at the Music Center at Strathmore (May 31, 8 p.m.) and the last performance of its final production, Macbeth (June 2, 7 p.m.). It is time to take stock of the company’s achievements this season and look forward to what it will offer the city next year. Four productions this season were…

On Saturday night, the Washington National Opera opened its best production of the season, with David Alden’s modernized staging of Leoš Janáček’s Jenůfa. Washington is the last of the three cities co-producing this version to see it on the stage, after a well-received 2004 premiere at Houston Grand Opera and an overwhelming critical success last fall at English National Opera, where it won the Laurence Olivier Award for best new opera production. Janáček adapted the…

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…

There is little doubt that the main event this week is the opening of the final part of the Washington National Opera’s season. The company’s penultimate production, Leoš Janáček’s Jenůfa in a staging by David Alden, won the Laurence Olivier Award this year for best new opera production. For reasons beyond understanding, not a single performance has sold out, although this is likely to be the high point of the WNO season. Some people may…