The Makropulos Case review: Ausrine Stundyte is magnetic in exhilarating – and funny – Janáček staging

Royal Opera House, LondonKatie Mitchell’s production wittily reinvigorates Janáček’s story of an immortal woman, via toxic masculinity and dating apps. Jakub Hrůša’s conducting draws out the music’s colours and the cast are uniformly strongThe director Katie Mitchell recently announced that after nearly 30 years she was stepping back from opera. With this staging of Leoš Janáček’s The Makropulos Case – remarkably, a first for the Royal Opera – she’s going out with a bang.A reason Mitchell gave for her decision was misogyny, in both the business of opera and its material. She has addressed the second before here in Covent Garden productions, tweaking the stories of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor and Handel’s Theodora to give their heroines agency. You might think that’s not something that Elina Makropulos needs: after all, Janáček’s heroine has been alive since 1585, reinventing herself in every generation – always as an opera star, always with the initials EM – so she’s seen everything, and isn’t afraid of anyone. Yet Mitchell is still able to reinvigorate her story – this time with both her expected merciless exposure of male bad behaviour and unexpected humour. It feels as if she is sticking up a middle finger at her naysayers and her reputation for onstage gloom. Who knew a Katie Mitchell production could be this funny? Continue reading...

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