The Cunning Little Vixen
This Helsinki streetcar was advertising and upcoming production of Leoš Janáček's opera The Cunning Little Vixen, also known (by whom?) as Adventures of Vixen Sharp-Ears.
About the Finnish National Opera:
The Finnish National Opera (Finnish: Suomen Kansallisooppera; Swedish: Finlands Nationalopera) is a Finnish opera company based in Helsinki. Its home base is the Opera House on Töölönlahti bay in Töölö, which opened in 1993, and is state-owned through Senate Properties. The Opera House features two auditoriums, the main auditorium with 1,350, seats and a smaller studio auditorium with 300-500 seats.
Regular opera performances began in Finland in 1873 with the founding of the Finnish Opera by Kaarlo Bergbom.
Prior to that, opera had been performed in Finland sporadically by touring companies, and on occasion by Finnish amateurs, the first such production being The Barber of Seville in 1849.
However, the Finnish Opera company soon plunged into a financial crisis and folded in 1879. During its six year's of operation, Bergbom’s opera company had given 450 performances of a total of 26 operas, and the company had managed to demonstrate that opera can be sung in Finnish too.
After the disbandment of the Finnish Opera, the opera audiences of Helsinki had to confine themselves to performances of visiting opera companies and occasional opera productions at the Finnish National Theatre.
The reincarnation of the Finnish opera institution took place about 30 years later. A group of notable social and cultural figures, led by the international star soprano Aino Ackté, founded the Domestic Opera in 1911.
From the very beginning, the opera decided to engage both foreign and Finnish artists. A few years later the Domestic Opera was renamed the Finnish Opera in 1914.
In 1956, the Finnish Opera was, in turn, taken over by the Foundation of the Finnish National Opera, and acquired its present name.
Between 1918 and 1993 the home of the opera was the Alexander Theater, which had been assigned to the company on a permanent basis. The home was inaugurated with an opening performance of Verdi’s Aida.
When the first dedicated opera house in Finland was finally completed and inaugurated in 1993, the old opera house was given back its original name, the Alexander Theater, after the Tsar Alexander II.
The Finnish National Opera has some 30 permanently engaged solo singers, a professional choir of 60 singers and its own orchestra of 120 members. The Ballet has 90 dancers from 17 countries. All together, the opera has a staff of 735.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_National_Opera
About The Cunning Little Vixen:
The Cunning Little Vixen (Czech: Příhody lišky Bystroušky, lit. 'Adventures of the vixen known as Sharp-Ears', and, until the 1970s, generally referred to in English as Adventures of Vixen Sharp-Ears) is a Czech language opera by Leoš Janáček, composed 1921 to 1923.
Its libretto was adapted by the composer from a serialized novella (daily comic) by Rudolf Těsnohlídek and Stanislav Lolek, which was first published in the newspaper Lidové noviny.
The opera incorporates Moravian folk music and rhythms as it recounts the life of a clever (i.e. sharp-eared, in a pun) fox and accompanying wildlife, as well as a few humans, and their small adventures while traversing their lifecycles.
Described as a comic opera, it has nonetheless been noted to contain a serious theme. Interpretations of the work remain varied, ranging from children's entertainment to a tragedy.
Title translation difficulty:
Broken down from the original Czech, the title is
Příhody = Tales (or Adventures),
lišky = of Vixen (i.e. genitive case, one fox, female),
Bystroušky = Sharp-Ears (double meaning: pointed [ears], clever, sly).
There is no mention in the Czech of a diminutive ("little"), although this idea is included in both the German (Das schlaue Füchslein) and recent (since 1980s) English versions of the opera's name.
It was probably the German name, used for the 1965 Felsenstein film, that established the English "cunning little", ignoring the important double meaning in "Sharp-Ears."
The first three audio recordings, all from the Czech company Supraphon (Neumann 1957, Gregor 1972, Neumann 1980) used, naturally, the original Czech name. Then Decca recorded the opera with the Vienna Philharmonic in 1981, and this widely circulated release made The Cunning Little Vixen the international, if inaccurate, standard.
When Janáček discovered Těsnohlídek's comic-strip-inspired story and decided to turn it into an opera, he began work by meeting with the author and beginning a study of animals.
With this understanding of the characters involved, his own 70 years of life experience, and an undying, unrequited love for the much younger, married Kamila Stösslová, he began work on the opera.
He transformed the originally comedic cartoon into a philosophical reflection on the cycle of life and death by including the death of the vixen. As with other operas by older composers, this late opera shows a deep understanding of life leading to a return to simplicity.
It was given its premiere performance on 6 November 1924 in National Theatre Brno conducted by František Neumann, with Ota Zítek as director and Eduard Milén as stage designer.
The opera received its Italian premiere at La Scala in 1958 with Mariella Adani in the title role.
The work was first staged in England in 1961 by the Sadler's Wells Opera Company (now the English National Opera) under the direction of Colin Graham, with conductor Colin Davis, and with scenery and costume designs by Barry Kay.
In 1981, the New York City Opera mounted a production in English based on images created by Maurice Sendak and conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas in his company debut.
It starred soprano Gianna Rolandi as Vixen Sharp-Ears and baritone Richard Cross as the Forester.
Glyndebourne Festival Opera staged it in 2012, directed by Melly Still, and a revival is included in the Glyndebourne Festival for 2016 with Christopher Purves as the Forester and Elena Tsallagova as the Vixen, conductor Jakub Hrůša and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
In May 2014 the Cleveland Orchestra, conducted by Franz Welser-Möst performed an innovative version directed by Yuval Sharon. This production returned the opera to its roots by utilizing animation and hand drawn video sets by the artists Bill Barminski and Christopher Louie of Walter Robot Studios. The production featured the use of hole-in-the-wall carnival cutouts to place the singers heads on the animated bodies of the animal characters.
The Cunning Little Vixen
This Helsinki streetcar was advertising and upcoming production of Leoš Janáček's opera The Cunning Little Vixen, also known (by whom?) as Adventures of Vixen Sharp-Ears.
About the Finnish National Opera:
The Finnish National Opera (Finnish: Suomen Kansallisooppera; Swedish: Finlands Nationalopera) is a Finnish opera company based in Helsinki. Its home base is the Opera House on Töölönlahti bay in Töölö, which opened in 1993, and is state-owned through Senate Properties. The Opera House features two auditoriums, the main auditorium with 1,350, seats and a smaller studio auditorium with 300-500 seats.
Regular opera performances began in Finland in 1873 with the founding of the Finnish Opera by Kaarlo Bergbom.
Prior to that, opera had been performed in Finland sporadically by touring companies, and on occasion by Finnish amateurs, the first such production being The Barber of Seville in 1849.
However, the Finnish Opera company soon plunged into a financial crisis and folded in 1879. During its six year's of operation, Bergbom’s opera company had given 450 performances of a total of 26 operas, and the company had managed to demonstrate that opera can be sung in Finnish too.
After the disbandment of the Finnish Opera, the opera audiences of Helsinki had to confine themselves to performances of visiting opera companies and occasional opera productions at the Finnish National Theatre.
The reincarnation of the Finnish opera institution took place about 30 years later. A group of notable social and cultural figures, led by the international star soprano Aino Ackté, founded the Domestic Opera in 1911.
From the very beginning, the opera decided to engage both foreign and Finnish artists. A few years later the Domestic Opera was renamed the Finnish Opera in 1914.
In 1956, the Finnish Opera was, in turn, taken over by the Foundation of the Finnish National Opera, and acquired its present name.
Between 1918 and 1993 the home of the opera was the Alexander Theater, which had been assigned to the company on a permanent basis. The home was inaugurated with an opening performance of Verdi’s Aida.
When the first dedicated opera house in Finland was finally completed and inaugurated in 1993, the old opera house was given back its original name, the Alexander Theater, after the Tsar Alexander II.
The Finnish National Opera has some 30 permanently engaged solo singers, a professional choir of 60 singers and its own orchestra of 120 members. The Ballet has 90 dancers from 17 countries. All together, the opera has a staff of 735.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_National_Opera
About The Cunning Little Vixen:
The Cunning Little Vixen (Czech: Příhody lišky Bystroušky, lit. 'Adventures of the vixen known as Sharp-Ears', and, until the 1970s, generally referred to in English as Adventures of Vixen Sharp-Ears) is a Czech language opera by Leoš Janáček, composed 1921 to 1923.
Its libretto was adapted by the composer from a serialized novella (daily comic) by Rudolf Těsnohlídek and Stanislav Lolek, which was first published in the newspaper Lidové noviny.
The opera incorporates Moravian folk music and rhythms as it recounts the life of a clever (i.e. sharp-eared, in a pun) fox and accompanying wildlife, as well as a few humans, and their small adventures while traversing their lifecycles.
Described as a comic opera, it has nonetheless been noted to contain a serious theme. Interpretations of the work remain varied, ranging from children's entertainment to a tragedy.
Title translation difficulty:
Broken down from the original Czech, the title is
Příhody = Tales (or Adventures),
lišky = of Vixen (i.e. genitive case, one fox, female),
Bystroušky = Sharp-Ears (double meaning: pointed [ears], clever, sly).
There is no mention in the Czech of a diminutive ("little"), although this idea is included in both the German (Das schlaue Füchslein) and recent (since 1980s) English versions of the opera's name.
It was probably the German name, used for the 1965 Felsenstein film, that established the English "cunning little", ignoring the important double meaning in "Sharp-Ears."
The first three audio recordings, all from the Czech company Supraphon (Neumann 1957, Gregor 1972, Neumann 1980) used, naturally, the original Czech name. Then Decca recorded the opera with the Vienna Philharmonic in 1981, and this widely circulated release made The Cunning Little Vixen the international, if inaccurate, standard.
When Janáček discovered Těsnohlídek's comic-strip-inspired story and decided to turn it into an opera, he began work by meeting with the author and beginning a study of animals.
With this understanding of the characters involved, his own 70 years of life experience, and an undying, unrequited love for the much younger, married Kamila Stösslová, he began work on the opera.
He transformed the originally comedic cartoon into a philosophical reflection on the cycle of life and death by including the death of the vixen. As with other operas by older composers, this late opera shows a deep understanding of life leading to a return to simplicity.
It was given its premiere performance on 6 November 1924 in National Theatre Brno conducted by František Neumann, with Ota Zítek as director and Eduard Milén as stage designer.
The opera received its Italian premiere at La Scala in 1958 with Mariella Adani in the title role.
The work was first staged in England in 1961 by the Sadler's Wells Opera Company (now the English National Opera) under the direction of Colin Graham, with conductor Colin Davis, and with scenery and costume designs by Barry Kay.
In 1981, the New York City Opera mounted a production in English based on images created by Maurice Sendak and conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas in his company debut.
It starred soprano Gianna Rolandi as Vixen Sharp-Ears and baritone Richard Cross as the Forester.
Glyndebourne Festival Opera staged it in 2012, directed by Melly Still, and a revival is included in the Glyndebourne Festival for 2016 with Christopher Purves as the Forester and Elena Tsallagova as the Vixen, conductor Jakub Hrůša and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
In May 2014 the Cleveland Orchestra, conducted by Franz Welser-Möst performed an innovative version directed by Yuval Sharon. This production returned the opera to its roots by utilizing animation and hand drawn video sets by the artists Bill Barminski and Christopher Louie of Walter Robot Studios. The production featured the use of hole-in-the-wall carnival cutouts to place the singers heads on the animated bodies of the animal characters.