The Makropulos Affair

Immortality is a curse.

This is the story of the mysterious opera diva Emilia Marty, a fascinating *femme fatale* who turns the lives of everyone around her upside down. Yet few suspect that behind her cool mask and captivating voice lies Elina Makropulos—the daughter of Emperor Rudolf II’s physician—who has lived for over three hundred years thanks to an elixir of youth.

Leoš Janáček composed this penultimate opera based on a famous play by Karel Čapek. While Čapek wrote his work as a conversational comedy with a detective-story plot, Janáček infused it with profound emotion. He created a gripping drama about the human longing for eternal life, but also about the endless weariness, loneliness, and cynicism that arise when death is denied. The premiere took place in 1926 at the *Divadlo Na hradbách* in Brno, attended by the composer himself. It has become one of Janáček’s most enduringly popular operas and is frequently performed on the world’s most prestigious stages.

The National Theatre Brno has prepared this production as part of the "Year of Czech Music"—marking the 160th anniversary of the composer's birth—and as the opening event of the Janáček Brno 2014 festival.