Janáček: From the House of the Dead
Stage director Frank Castorf “might have been born to direct From the House of the Dead” (Opera Today). His gritty, visually striking adaptation brings bold modern and postmodern touches to Janáček’s masterwork without ever overshadowing the intense forward momentum of the music, conducted to dramatic perfection by Simone Young and sung by an all-star cast in Munich. Janáček adapted Dostoevsky for this powerfully compelling opera set in a Siberian prison camp, full of starkly contrasting moods and motifs, unusual in its episodic structure. The last opera Janáček ever composed, its third act was on his desk when he died in 1928; attempts by his students to “complete” his orchestration have largely fallen away over the decades in favor of the original version. Despite the grimness of the setting and the brutality of several characters, the composer’s compassion shines through in tender moments, movingly illustrating his motto for the work: “in every creature, a spark of God.”
Top Cast
Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper
as
Peter Rose
as Alexander Petrovich Goryanchikov
Evgeniya Sotnikova
as Aleya
Aleš Briscein
as Luka Kuzmich
More Like This

The Man with the Golden Arm
1955 • Movie

The Experiment
2001 • Movie

THX 1138
1971 • Movie

Lost Highway
1997 • Movie

La Strada
1954 • Movie

Brute
1997 • Movie

Johnny Handsome
1989 • Movie

The Blues Brothers
1980 • Movie

Prison Break
2017 • Movie

Boycott
1986 • Movie

Poison
1991 • Movie

Locked Up
2005 • Movie

The Wall
1983 • Movie

The Road
1982 • Movie

Requiem
1982 • Movie


