Janacek: The Cunning Little Vixen

Enchanting, playful, non-melodic, interesting, delightful, surprising, touching, sorrowful, joyful, sleep-inducing, provocative, sexy, child-like . . . all for the same opera? Well, yes. The Cunning Little Vixen is all these things and more.

Try and imagine an eastern-european comic strip, full of humor one moment, full of tenderness and sorrow the next, full of eroticism the next, full of broodings on the limitations of man the next; now, throw in a lot of ballet and get everyone singing.

Two problems I encountered with 'Vixen' : the first is a matter of taste, I would prefer more melody, more letting the singers really sing (there are a couple of spots where they really get that chance, but I'd like more of these moments). The second, is a question of musical pacing, which I think, considering the nature of this piece, could be just a little bit faster (I found my eyes starting to droop in a couple of spots). That said, I think this is a really charming work that is worth seeing, but I wouldn't recommend it for the kids, despite the comic strip origin (quite sensual).

The costumes are an absolute scream and the staging is really good. A fantastic production. There are a couple of things I would have done differently in direction, but mostly good. Don't miss this one if you can help it. You can find it on netflix and other places.