Její pastorkyňa

Worse than a scar on the face are scars on the soul.

Her Shepherdess is one of Janáček's most famous works and is a permanent part of the repertoire of the Brno Opera. It started with a realistic drama by Gabriela Preissová, which the composer himself adapted into the form of an opera libretto. Although he had to significantly shorten the text of the drama, he succeeded in deepening the effect of the tragic story from the Moravian countryside. The spendthrift and fickle Števa, the fierce and yet at heart kind Laca, and above all the inexorable Kostelnička, whose efforts to maintain her position and respect in the village community will lead her to murder the child of her shelter, Jenůfa. Janáček (1854–1928) captured the individual characters in a masterly dramatic shorthand that is chilling and at the same time evokes compassion and understanding in us. The final form of the work, marked by the death of the composer's daughter Olga, led to a long and thorny road. After the successful premiere in Brno in 1904, her pastor had to wait twelve long years before Janáček's efforts were crowned with well-deserved success on other domestic and foreign stages.