From the House of the Dead.

Leos Janacek

DGG: 00440 073 4426

Conductor Pierre Boulez, director Patrice Chereau and designer Richard Peduzzi took the opera world by storm in 1976 with their revolutionary centennial production of Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Bayreuth Festival. That was followed in 1979 by the equally acclaimed production for the Paris Opera of Friedrich Cerha's newly reconstructed, three-act version of Berg's Lulu. In 2007, nearly 30 later, the creators reunited for this masterful new production of Janacek's final opera. filmed in 2007 in Aix-en-Provence.

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Based on Dostoyevsky's From the House of the Dead, the opera is set in a bleak Siberian prison. Given its episodic, non-linear nature, it is notoriously difficult to stage. Chereau, however, manages to achieve cohesiveness by constructing, as he explains, his own "dramaturgical continuity alongside Janacek's dramaturgy ... I think that the initial difficulty ... is not that the work has no story but that, on the contrary, it tells too many. First, there are the narratives of Luka, Skuratov, Shapkin and Shishkov, four slices of life that make up the opera's backbone. And then there are Goryanchikov and the young Alyeya. These six characters must be permanently recognizable. I wanted them to be a constant presence, even when they are not central to the narrative."

Set in a monolithic, faceless cement prison (dramatically lit throughout by Bertrand Coudere). Janacek's opera, with its universal and timely themes, finally receives the production it deserves. The cast is exemplary, while the youthful Mahler Chamber Orchestra plays with conviction and passion for Boulez.This new release is one of the most compelling productions currently on DVD.--NC