Emilia Marty is a woman with a past – 300 years of it. She is a mysterious woman, an opera singer whose tangled and tortured history is slowly revealed in the suspenseful thriller The Makropulos Case.
Written by the Czech composer Leos Janáček in the mid-1920s, it presents a scenario in which eternal youth is not the blessing you'd imagine.
The 'case' in the opera is a longstanding lawsuit between two branches of a family, one legitimate and the other not. The real heir will be identified and the dispute resolved when an authentic will is produced. The person who can answer these questions is the diva, Emilia Marty. But her own motivation is even more mysterious. What she is seeking is not the will, but the ancient formula secreted along with it: an elixir which has kept her alive for 337 years (in various guises, but always with the initials E.M.). And as beautiful and fascinating as she may be on the outside, her spirit within has decayed to an emotionally empty shell. What resolution can lead to fulfillment? The Met's synopsis will help keep you informed about the twists and turns of the plot.
The Finnish soprano Karita Matilla stars in the production (seen above in an excerpt from a San Francisco Opera appearance last year). The 2011-12 Metropolitan Opera radio broadcast season comes to a close with this live broadcast of Janáček’s The Makropulos Case — the first broadcast of the work at the Met in more than a decade. The performance is conducted by Czech music specialist Jiří Bělohlávek and features Richard Leech as Emilia’s admirer Albert Gregor, Danish baritone Johan Reuter in his Met debut as Gregor’s aristocratic rival, Jaroslav Prus; and Tom Fox as the lawyer Kolenaty.
The Makropulos Case will be heard live on CBC Radio 2 (using the Met's 1/2 hour delayed feed) over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network beginning at our usual start time of 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 5. (2:00 - 6:00 AT, 2:30 - 6:30 NT)
With the Met season coming to an end, you'll want to to find out what is coming up on Saturday Afternoon at the Opera! Visit the program's webpage and click on the COMING tab.
Related links:
Metropolitan Opera 2012-13 season
Leos Janacek, his life, his world, his operas
[Video] Gerald Finley cuts a heroic figure as Schubert’s boatman