Jenůfa

Few artists in recent years have thrilled audiences more thoroughly than Finnish dramatic soprano Karita Mattila, whose Met repertoire spans the works of Mozart, Beethoven, Verdi, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Strauss, and Puccini. She has also given riveting appearances as four of Janáček’s most compelling characters, beginning in 2003, when she took on the title character of his taut domestic drama Jenůfa. Set in a small Moravian village, the opera follows its heroine as she struggles to make something out of a life plagued by misfortune and hardship. In this moving 2007 radio broadcast, Mattila reprises her heartbreaking portrayal, sharing the stage with legendary soprano Anja Silja as her imperious stepmother, the Kostelnička, and tenors Jorma Silvasti and Jay Hunter Morris as the half-brothers vying for Jenůfa’s love. Maestro Jirí Belohlávek, a leading interpreter of the Czech musical canon, takes the podium to conduct this poignant, yet ultimately uplifting, drama.