📜 Overview:
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.”
🌏 Languages Available:
Czech
📆 Date Released:
2018-05-01
⌚ Running Time:
99 mins
⭐ Vote Average:
0.0
Beloved Cast
Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper
Alexander Petrovich Goryanchikov
Peter Rose
Aleya
Evgeniya Sotnikova
Luka Kuzmich
Aleš Briscein
Skuratov
Charles Workman
Shishkov
Bo Skovhus
Prison Governor
Christian Rieger
Bayerische Staatsorchester
Nikita
Manuel Günther
Small Prisoner
Tim Kuypers
Old Prisoner
Ulrich Reß
Cook (a prisoner)
Boris Prýgl
Pope
Peter Lobert
Cekunov
Johannes Kammler
Guard
Long Long
Sapkin
Kevin Conners
Drunken Prisoner
Galeano Salas
Blacksmith (a prisoner)
Alexander Milev
Cerevin
Dean Power
Kedril
Matthew Grills
Don Juan / Brahmane
Callum Thorpe