Kept in Czech

Czech opera preformed for the first time since the 1980s

by David Shengold

Congratulations are in order: AVA undertook a difficult task in mounting Leos Janácek's lyrically anguished Kát'a Kabanová in the original Czech and came up aces. None of this sovereign yet idiosyncratic composer's operas seem to have been performed locally since the 1980s — this while the Opera Company of Philadelphia throws away precious resources on empty, derivative claptrap like its recent Cyrano. Kát'a swiftly and poignantly tells the story of a fatal but liberating love affair of a very religious young woman trapped in a loveless marriage and hemmed in by a monster mother-in-law and the oppressive mores of a joyless, provincial mercantile city (think Wilkes-Barre). Principal among the production's heroes is the Wilma's Blanka Zizka, making her debut as operatic director. Zizka successfully transposed the action from the 1860s ahead about 50 years and imbued the episodic piece with logic and flow; her singing actors were unusually dramatically convincing, save for two saddled with the burden of youth in playing elderly tyrants (though mezzo Cynthia Cook, singing accurately, gave it her best ramrod-postured shot). Allen G. Doak Jr.'s evocative set and lighting proved major assets. Luke Housner also performed heroically and expressively at the keyboard. The romantic leads — Colleen Daly's Kát'a and Bryan Hymel as her hapless lover, Boris — were particularly expressive. Daly seems in all ways a marvelous find, displaying real stage presence and timing in addition to an attractive, well-handled, clear and affecting soprano, with unusual richness in the bottom register. Hymel's potent tenor, now too big for the Warden Theater, shows greater refinement and ease by the year. Tenor Joseph Demarest coped capably with the weak husband's ungratifying role. As the "secondary" lovers, Elspeth Kincaid and Cody Austin proved ideal scenically; her pleasant sound grew harsh on top, and his impressive tenor needed an airier lyricism for Janácek's ravishing second-act finale. Nina Yoshida Nelsen lent Glasa a fine, mellow mezzo. A very worthwhile undertaking.

(d_shengold@citypaper.net)

Kát'a Kabanová Feb. 24, Helen Corning Warden Theater (AVA)