Leoš Janáček (1854-1928): The Cunning Little Vixen
A magnificent opera celebrating nature and the eternal cycle of life
Libretto: Leoš Janáček
Author: Leoš Janáček
Conductor: Jakub Klecker
Director: James Conway
Set Design: Neil Irish
Costume Design: Neil Irish
Premiere 6th November 2008, Janáček Theatre
The Cunning Little Vixen is among Janáček’s most lyrical and melodic operas. It sparkles with humour, loving and a little whimsical and sharp at the same time, and has a special take blending the worlds of people and animals, earthiness, a humane philosophy of life and a certain mysticism. The beginnings of this tale of a cunning vixen were in the decision of the Brno editors of a newspaper to regular give their readers drawings with a humorous text. Among the artists asked to contribute was Stanislav Lolek (1873-1936), a great nature-lover who was originally a gamekeeper by profession. Lolek at first hesitated, but the editor Bohumil Markalous found hidden in his Prague studio under a pile of old junk some dusty sketches of a furious hunter with a spiky black beard and a wily fox. The editor-in-chief Arnošt Heinrich liked the pictures and commissioned the writer Rudolf Těsnohlídek (1882-1928) to write the accompanying texts. Janáček’s household were among the regular readers of the newspaper and was intrigued by the illustrated tales. Preparation for the composition of the opera involved also a detailed study of the life of foxes: Janáček asked his friend from Hukvaldy, the farmer Ludvík Jung, to send him a report on when foxes reach maturity, how many cubs they have, how long pregnancy lasts and how frequently they have young. While staying in Hukvaldy the composer often set off into the forest with the gamekeeper Sládek, who tracked the foxes to their lair, and together they observed the frolicking fox cubs. The Cunning Little Vixen had its world premiere in the theatre in Brno on November 6, 1924.
The new production of The Cunning Little Vixen was prepared by the company of the Janáček Opera under the direction of the English General Director of the English Touring Opera James Conway. Part of the production team is also the English artist and scenographer Neil Irish. Thus the staging represents an interesting combination of the Czech interpretive tradition and the novel perspective of English producers on Janáček’s operatic work.
