Leoš Janáček Foundation acknowledged the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre

The director of the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre Jiří Nekvasil received the Leoš Janáček Foundation Award for the exceptional interpretation of composer’s work. The National Moravian-Silesian Theatre is the second theatre in the world having staged all composer’s operas with the production of Destiny in the year of 90th anniversary of Janáček’s death. Nekvasil received the medal from the Chair of the Board of Directors Vladimír Richter and director Ludmila Němcová on the stage of the Mahen Theatre in Brno before the performance of Destiny at the Janáček Brno 2018 festival.

The guest performance of Ostrava opera was part of the international music festival Janáček Brno 2018. It was very well received by the audience. The day of the premiere of Destiny was a milestone for the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre in Ostrava as it became the second theatre in the world, which has staged Janáček’s complete opera works. The first one was the National Theatre Brno. “The National Moravian-Silesian Theatre successfully premiered Janáček’s Jenůfa in the very first season in November 1919. The inter-war period saw production of almost all operas in the theatre. The unjustly neglected Destiny has its turn only nowadays,” said the opera director Jiří Nekvasil at the occasion of the premiere.

Musical preparation Jakub Klecker, director Jiří Nekvasil, stage desing Daniel Dvořák, costume design Simona Rybáková.

Directing and performances, especially that of Martin Šrejma, who played Composer Živný, were acknowledged by the head of the Department of Singing and Opera Directing at HAMU Ivan Kusnjer right after the premiere. “It was the first time I had heard a tenor who mastered his role. He is the right person for Janáček’s operas, I had no troubles understanding him despite the complicated text,” said professor Kusnjer.