Opera The Monument: a powerful drama without much emotion

8 February 2020, 18:00
Opera The Monument: a powerful drama without much emotion

Director, librettist and stage designer David Radok and composer, but also chief conductor of the opera ensemble Marko Ivanović created the authorial work for the opera ensemble of the National Theatre Brno. The opera The Monument, which was premiered yesterday, tells the story of sculptor Otakar Švec (1892–1955), whose design in 1955 was a portent of Stalin's monument at Letná. The title roles in the Janáček Theatre were performed by: Stanislav Sem (Sculptor), Markéta Cukrová (Wife), Roman Hoza (Colleague) and Ondřej Koplík (Minister of Culture). The solo parts were complemented by the Opera Choir, the Czech Academic Choir and the Brno Children's Choir. The Janáček Opera Orchestra was directed by the author of the music Marko Ivanović.

The theme of the opera is an internal ethical dialogue and the tragic fate of a sculptor and artist. Švec was compulsorily participating in the design contest for the memorial of Josif Stalin and won it unintentionally. He committed suicide shortly before the monument was unveiled. The opera chronologically depicts events from the announcement of the 1949 megalomaniac competition until the tearing down of the monument in 1962; everything is arranged in one act and eleven scenes.

monument_01_foto_Marek Olbrzymek

David Radok conceives the historical substance rather realistically and his grasp is more traditional, devoid of experiments with the form of narration or time manipulation. The librettist aims to carefully depict the moods and atmosphere of the 1950s and more broadly of any totalitarian society. The libretto does not contain a single personal name and the direction aims towards a super-realistic depiction. In addition to certain realism, Radok's direction contains even surrealistic moments, evoked by everyday reality brought ad absurdum. In the close neighbourhood of both great and small histories, very oppressive in The Monument in every way, the ever-repeated banalities are unduly accentuated. And nowadays may even sound superficial. The eye of an imaginary camera covers all the events on the stage as equal, and so the audience was equally exposed to the jingle of dishes alongside fatal political repression. Positively unusual is the length of the opera, which consists of only eighty minutes divided into eleven scenes. However, it would be wrong to assume a swift progress in this case. Certain rigidity of the action, images and scene was evident all the time. The backdrops (separating the space between "inside" and "outside") were sophisticated and often took place in complete silence. An empty scene free of any movement or presence of characters was no exception. Although the story depicted one of the most shattering times in the history of the country and an unmistakable inner drama of the artist, the stage remained devoid of remarkable emotions. The director thus avoided inappropriate pathos in his depiction of historical facts (death of the sculptor), and at times succeeded in achieving monumentality in the opposite way (the song  "Bude zima bude mráz" ["It Will be Cold, It Will Be Freezing"] instead of an inner confession). Impressive is the work with a hint – instead of a 15-meter statue on the stage, there is J.V. Stalin's thumb, and after a devastating explosion there is a mere index smoke from the collapsing monument.     

monument_02_foto_Marek Olbrzymek

The music of Marko Ivanović was betting on atmosphere and soundness, already in the first minutes there were mood-setting suggestive uproars and noises. Adhering to the intent of David Radok, the music did not refer to any particular period and concentrated on communicating the appropriate moods. These, however, alternated with high frequency. The resulting impression was fragmented in places, which was also contributed to by the blending of replicas of characters and choruses. A certain minimalism in the instrumentation was obvious – almost never the instrument groups sounded at the same time, on the contrary, the solos of the wind and percussion sections were numerous. All this had a great impact on the resulting impression - the opera experience was unusually intimate and unpretentious on the vast stage of Janáček Theatre. The singing role was divided among thirteen solo characters, most of their expression  was recitatively syllabic, and due to the short duration of the opera, the title roles of Svatopluk Sem and Markéta Cukrová did not get as much space as their briefly performed flawless performance deserved. Roman Hoza and Ondřej Koplík showed themselves on the stage for a slightly longer time – a positive fact is that even here the libretto did not adapt to external conditions. Although roles were tailored to the ensemble, the authenticity of the characters was the main and successfully achieved goal. One of the strongest musical aspects of the work consisted in the choruses, several times a capella, in which the Children's Choir Brno repeatedly excelled. The crowd of sculptors was old vocal polyphony (fourth picture), Latin singing in the church (eighth picture) created an atmosphere functionally contrasting with the rest of the opera.                   

Although the opera depicts the inner struggle of the main character, there is no real conflict reached in the story. Even without extensive inner monologues, it is clear at any moment what position each character takes and where it is heading to. The performance thus remained the announced description of the atmosphere of the era, the setting of which is not doubtable particularly due to costumes, hints in the libretto and rhetoric of the characters. The performance is dominated by low contrast and gray tones with occasional red accents. Although the processing of the facts has been done in a high-flying and authentic manner in all respects, it does not, in my opinion, bring any new insight into the issue that is commonly depicted in gray with a dose of absurdity. The resulting message was both predictable and unambiguous (the spectators were given very little space for their own interpretation), and hence in accordance with its formal eleven-fold variation.

The Monument

Premiere on 7th February 2020 at Janáček Theatre

author: Marko Ivanović

conductor: Marko Ivanović

stage design: David Radok

costumes: Zuzana Ježková

lighting design: Přemysl Janda

choirmasters: Pavel Koňárek, Michal Vajda and Valeria Maťašová

Sculptor: Svatopluk Sem (guest)

Wife: Markéta Cukrová (guest)

Colleague: Roman Hoza

Minister of Culture: Ondřej Koplík

Secretary: David Nykl

Wife of the 1st Secretary: Martina Mádlová

Lover: Tereza Kyzlinková

Singer: Andrea Široká

Secret Man 1: Igor Loškár

Secret Man 2: Petr Levíček

Deputy Minister: Pavel Valenta

Deputy Minister: Petr Karas

Sculptor: Martin Novotný

photo by Marek Olbrzymek

Comments

Reply

No comment added yet..

The last opera première of the National Theatre Brno this year was Hurvínek Sells the Bride, which was co-produced with the Spejbl and Hurvínek Theatre. The première continued the thematic focus associated with the Year of Czech Music and took place on 24 November in the large hall of the Reduta Theatre.  more

With Thursday's concert entitled Bruckneriana, the Brno Philharmonic under the direction of Principal Conductor Dennis Russell Davies launched the subscription series Philharmonia in the Theatre I. The orchestra performed works by Anton Bruckner and Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, a Polish-American conductor and composer who devoted his life's work to Bruckner. Performers wearing crimson sashes with the inscription "Playing forte!” appeared in front of the audience, joining the "Let's not let culture die” initiative, which draws attention to the underfunding of culture and opposes the government's plan to invest just 0.64% of the state budget into culture next year, moving further and further away from its promise to spend at least 1%.  more

The Brno Philharmonic Orchestra has been running the Orchestral Academy of the Brno Philharmonic (OAFB) project for nine seasons, enabling young talented musicians to gain orchestral experience in a professional ensemble. In this manner, the orchestra educates the next generation of musicians, both permanent and external. However, working here also gives young people the opportunity to show their skills in chamber music and in a concert series called Young Blood aka Music Up Close. The first seasonal concert took place on Wednesday 15 November at Besední dom.  more

Baladas da Luta, Fighting Ballads, is the title of the sixth album by Brazilian singer Mariana Da Cruz and her Swiss-Brazilian band Da Cruz. It is a combination of modern music that combines Latin American tradition and contemporary electronic elements with strong lyrics. In them, the author fights for women’s rights, stands up against dictatorships and specifically criticizes the atmosphere that has evolved in Brazil under the now former authoritarian President Bolsonaro. Da Cruz performed at Brasil Fest Brno in August 2023. We revisit this festival with an interview conducted following their concert at Zelný trh. Singer Mariana Da Cruz and keyboard player and producer Ane Hebeisn, performing as Ane H, responded to our questions.  more

The programme for Janáček Brno 2024, an international opera and music festival now in its 9th year, was unveiled at a concert held to mark this occasion entitled Janáček to the start! On Saturday, 4 November, the Mahen Theatre was filled not only with devoted fans of the festival, but also with foreign journalists, politicians and prominent figures from the world of culture. In addition to a collection of wonderful musical performances, the audience was also treated to a lineup of renowned artists – Kateřina Kněžíková (soprano), Václava Krejčí Housková (mezzo-soprano), Josef Špaček (violin) and, last but not least, Robert Kružík, who took on the role of both conductor leading the Orchestra of the Janáček Opera at the National Theatre Brno during the evening and also performing as a cellist.  more

The musical comedy The Addams Family is the latest production to hit the stage of the Music Theatre of Brno City Theatre. Audiences are in for an ironic, slightly morbid and enticingly horrific spectacle for the whole family. A musical production has been crafted here which serves up a famous contemporary pop culture phenomenon, as well as a generous helping of hyperbole and catchy melodies to boot. And testament to the audience’s hunger for this wacky family is the fact that all thirty performances are already nearly sold out…  more

The Ensemble Versus choir, accompanied by the Ensemble Opera Diversa under the baton of Gabriela Tardonová, demonstrated what a combination of historical and modern instruments sounds like within a contemporary musical context in the Red Church. The dramaturgical line of Tuesday evening was presented in the spirit of a combination of the works of Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa (1566-1613) and the world premiere of Exsultet by the principal composer Ondřej Kyas (*1979), which also includes parts written for cornett (Radovan Vašina), dulcian (Jan Klimeš), trombone (Pavel Novotný) and theorbo (Marek Kubát).  more

The second New World of Moravian Autumn festival began on Thursday in Brno’s Besední dům. This project, by students of the Faculty of Music at the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts, was primarily originally created for the practical musical programming course and intended to be a one-off event during the Moravian Autumn the year before last. Subsequently, however, more students signed up and started working on a repeat festival. The dramaturgy for New World 2023 was handled by percussionists Adéla Spurná and David Paša, bassoonists Aneta Kubů and Josef Paik, and multimedia composer Martin Janda. Three concerts were prepared for 19, 20 and 21 October for this mini festival.  more

The Restlessness of Icelandic Peace was the name of a concert on 15 October at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Brno, at which conductor Chuhei Iwasaki with the Moravia Brass Band and American artist Adam Wiltzie performed a work by Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson (1969-2018). Many of you may know his music from the award-winning films The Theory of Everything and Arrivalmore

The third concert of the Moravian Autumn Festival, held under the auspices of the Ambassadors of Latvia and Lithuania, Elita Kuzma and Laimonas Talat-Kelpša, presented mostly contemporary works by foreign composers on Wednesday 4 October at the Besední dům. The show was directed by the Kremerata Baltica string orchestra, who invited the young talented pianist Onutė Gražinytė to join them, and the whole evening primarily rode on a wave of minimalism. However, during the preparation of the concert, the programme was changed and instead of Geörgy Ligeti's String Quartet No.1 "Métamorphoses nocturnes", works by Jēkabs Jančevskis and Olli Mustonen were performed in their place.  more

The Ensemble Opera Diversa has already presented several compositions by David Matthews (*1943) to Brno audiences, and in most cases these were Czech or even world premieres. This year Matthews’ 80th birthday was celebrated with a performance by the above-mentioned ensemble, or rather its chamber branch Diversa Quartet, headed by dramaturge Jiří Čevela, with a concert on 20 September at the Villa Löw-Beer. The programme, consisting of works by composers closely associated with David Matthews himself, including his own compositions, was preceded by an hour-long discussion in the presence of the composer. Matthews is a British-born composer with long-standing ties to the Brno circle of composers and musicologists. In addition to his participation in the so-called "apartment seminars" in the 1980s, he also is friends with several personalities such as composer, pedagogue and oboist Pavel Zemek Novák (*1957).  more

Trains as a symbol of departure, arrival and return were the main theme of the second edition of the International Festival of Jewish Culture ŠTETL FEST, which took place at the end of August and beginning of September. The four-day program combined the historical events of Jewish citizens taken from Brno to concentration camps during World War II with the modern stories of Ukrainians who fled to the city from the war in their country. To commemorate these events, the Memorial to the Disappeared was unveiled at the opening of the festival at Brno's main railway station and visitors can see the exhibition entitled Stories from Ukraine in various Brno locations until the end of September. The final concert directed by the Škampa Quartet under the title Trains, held on Sunday 3 September at the Besední dům, was a meaningful end to the festival, during which the question of leaving and returning was musically and historically reinforced.  more

The Brno-based singer-songwriter Yana recorded her first album Journey of the Soul in Dublin, Ireland, and invited a number of top Irish musicians to join her in the studio.  more

The international group Ensemble Fantasmi, which focuses on older music and was founded by flautist Paul Leenhouts, performed in Olomouc, at the Znojmo Music Festival and also visited Brno during a small European tour. The group presented themselves to the audience on Monday 24 July at Červeny kostel, where they, along with the invited singers prepared vocal-instrumental works by Czech Baroque composers. The reviewed concert in the Hall of Merciful Brothers on 25 July, which was also the last night of the tour, was in the same spirit. Its subheading Musica Bohemica pointed to a varied programme consisting of instrumental works by Czech composers of the Baroque and Classical periods.  more

The trilogy of lute concerts at the chateau within the Concentus Moraviae International Music Festival concluded on the evening of Sunday, 18 June. Once again, the audience at the Ceremonial Hall of the Rájec nad Svitavou Castle saw performances by Ryosuke Sakamoto on the Renaissance lute and David Bergmüller on the Baroque lute. Both prepared their own recital for the audience, dedicated to the given historical period, finally joining their artistry at the end of the concert. There was also a slight change in the program of the Renaissance block, which was more than welcome given the expansion of the repertoire and the offer of interesting - often lesser-known - lute pieces.  more

Editorial

The concert entitled "In between genres" is the culmination of a three-day event celebrating 100 years of radio broadcasting in Moravia. The whole event includes genre-free concerts, a showcase of new music recordings from radio production and a colloquium dealing with folk songs in radio broadcasting, and last but not least, a commemoration of editor Jaromír Nečas and his radio venture - a series of programmes called The Colourful Singing World. The final concert is moderated by Břetislav Rychlík and Jiří Plocek.  more

Mahan Esfahani, an absolute world leader in harpsichord playing, is coming to Brno. He was the first and only harpsichordist in the world to win the BBC's New Generation Artist in 2008-2010 and has won countless prestigious music awards. He will perform with the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra in a programme entitled Mahan Esfahani: harpsichord in the main role.  more

Years of international cooperation between the cities of Brno and Stuttgart will culminate in one musical event - a joint concert in the Hall of the Brothers of Charity. Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle will be performed by the Ökumenischer Choir.  more

The fourth instalment of the Invisible City series is entitled Ministry of Truth - based on George Orwell's novel 1984, which deals with the manipulation of the past. This time the Bruno Contemporary Orchestra will play in the former headquarters of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. The world premiere will feature, for example, Jiří Adámek Austerlitz’s composition We Are The Powermore

The Brno women’s choir Gloria Brunensis regularly represents its city and the Czech Republic at international competitions. It is bringing home not only the golden diploma in the Women’s and Men’s Choirs category, but also the grand prix - the Golden Lyre for the best choir of the Varsovia Cantat competition in Poland.  more

Davies- Skrowaczewski - Bruckner. Three musical personalities will meet in the upcoming program of the Brno Philharmonic under the name Bruckneriana. The concerts will take place on Thursday and Friday at the Janáček Theatre.  more

Due to the sudden illness of Joachim Bäckström, the actor in the title role, today’s and Sunday’s (17 and 19 November 2023) performances of Peter Grimes are cancelled.  more

The Brno Cultural Newsletter brings you an overview of events and opportunities in the coming period with regards to theatres, clubs, festivals and cultural events in Brno.  more

The Janáček Opera Choir is looking for a new member for the BAS voice branch. Auditions will take place on 1 December 2023.  more

On Friday, three Christmas trees in the centre of Brno will have their lights switched on. The first of which will be the Tree of the Republic on náměstí Svobody, which has been going on there for 99 years. The opening ceremony will be accompanied by wall-dancing and acrobats on stilts. The programme during Christmas in Brno will offer more than 200 concerts over 30 days in all the city’s squares. Performers include the Gustav Brom Radio Big Band, Hana Holišová and the New Time Orchestra, Igor Orozovič & Company and others.  more