Jenůfa (Premiere) — Silesian Theatre Opava

Bree Nichols, soprano, debuts the title role in Janáček’s electrifying opera, Jenůfa (Její pastorkyňa), at the Silesian Theatre in Opava (Slezské divadlo Opava).

Conductor: Marek Prášil

Director: Jana Andělová Pletichová

About the Opera:

Leoš Janáček’s first mature opera, Jenůfa, is known for its raw emotional power and intense realism. Premiering in 1904, it marked a significant turning point in opera by blending folk music elements with Janáček's distinctively expressive musical language. The story, based on a play by Gabriela Preissová, is steeped in Moravian culture and the composer’s personal experiences of loss and suffering—including the death of his daughter—which influenced the opera’s poignant themes of love, sacrifice, and redemption.

The plot centers on Jenůfa, a young woman living in a rural village, whose life unravels when her secret pregnancy is revealed. Betrayed by her lover, Števa, she becomes entangled in a web of tragic decisions orchestrated by her morally complex…