Janáček: Příhody Lišky Bystroušky Act 3 finale.

At Harasta's wedding, the forester sees the vixen's fur, which Harasta gave to his bride Terynka as a wedding present, he escapes into the forest to be alone with his thoughts. He feels old and tired, he has missed out on life his marriage has lost the sparkle of first love. He is in the same place where he met the vixen; just as in the first scene he spies a little vixen, he guesses she is the vixen's own cub because she has the same ears. Just then another frog jumps into his lap, he realizes that the very beauty of nature lies in this cycle of life and death, his heart is filled with joy and wonder and the life of the forest surrounding him.

The Vixen is Janáček's most singular work and in many ways it is also his most charming. Based on a cartoon series by Rudolf Tĕsnohlídek which appeared in 1920 on the newspaper Lidové noviny, drawings by Stanislav Lolek, it tells the Tale of the Vixen Sharp-ears (the literal translation of the Czech title Příhody Lišky Bystroušky). Though it could be argued that the opera follows in the tradition of the German Märchenoper nevertheless the musical language and themes explored make it unique in the entire operatic repertoire. The parallel lives of the animals, who get on with the business of living (and dying), and the humans, who seem to live in a permanent state of regret and paralysis, unfolds in a rich tapestry of musical invention where Janáček uses musical material notated from nature to create a forest of sounds. Many of the climatic moments of the opera are orchestral rather than vocal and the opera is an inviting challenge for directors, singers and choreographer. The final message of the opera is, of course, optimistic, as is always the case with Janáček, celebrating the renewal of life in nature: the final words are given to a frog who says to the Forester "No, I'm not the one you think, that was my granddad, he spoke a lot about you".
As in Kat'a Kabanova the Vixen has autobiographical inspiration in Janáček's muse Kamila Stösslová who is represented in two characters: the Vixen and Terinka the illusive gypsy girl whom the schoolmaster loves from a distance.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Janáček
• Příhody
• Lišky
• Bystroušky
• Cunning
• Vixen
• Mackerras
• Allen
• Jenis
• Minutillo
• Kusnjer
• Novak
• Fuchslein

[grig035]

Is this Thomas Allen and Sir Charles Mackerras?

[CzarDodon]

Oh yes :-)

[grig035]

There is simply no greater or more luscious or more inspired sequence in all of twentieth-century opera.

[platero55]

Count me in as another listener who gets misty-eyed over this final scene!

[kicyro]

"What y-y-you think you're seeing is n-n-not me, it's m-m-my grandpa"

[polukin]

moravian language exactly it is so nice hear and understand XD am fascinating thank you NY

[IndIanOfficial]

This is a wonderful scene. the new york philharmonic has just performed this over the last few days and when i first heard this finale i was so moved. It has been a pleasure to hear this finale again and again for the last few nights. This is a great video

[traplican]

 Almost every rejoinder is a small joke or racy curse so I have the time of my life during reading of the libretto but it is difficult to translate it (and my English isn't good). For example:

PARSON: Non des mulierti corpus tuum!

FORESTER: Čerta rozumím! Kdyby to byla aspoň myslivecká latina! (Hell I undersood! If would be at least the huntsman latin!

Huntsman latin is 1. Huntsman terminology 2. Huntsman stories told with extensive exaggeration.

[traplican]

Maybe will be interesting for you that the libretto of this opera is written in dialect. Not exactly "pure" Haná dialect but by common speech which is spoken north of Brno and which is mix of the standard Czech with Haná dialect.

[BritinIsrael]

One the most moving scenes from all 20th century opera!

Janacek just has to be the most underated opera composer of the last century. To think when i was a student ( in late 60's early 70's)i went to peformances of his operas with row upon row of empty seats.Even at Covent Garden when Sylvia Fisher sang Kostelnicka so magnificantly there were loads of empty seats.

Thanks to Charles Mackerras and others  Janacek operas have now become loved world wide.

[salpetr]

Guess, main reason, why is Janacek`s music so touching - he is never sentimental...he is cruel or sensitive, but always true...like life...

I love him...