Janacek: Jenufa.(Sound Recording Review)

J. Watson, Barstow, Vaughan; N. Robson, Wedd, N. Davies; Chorus and Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera, Mackerras. Chandos CHAN 3106 (2)

Preeminent Janacek specialist Charles Mackerras's estimable new Jenufa, like his 1982 Czech-language recording (Decca 414483), utilizes his own superb edition, free of Karel Kovarovic's once-standard tinkerings with the original orchestration. Listener response will depend on individual reaction to hearing an opera with melodic contours so rooted in Czech prosody sung in English. The generally fine translation by Covent Garden stalwarts Edward Downes and Otakar Kraus, dating from the late 1960s, occasionally seems too refined for librettist Gabriela Preissova's rural characters. ("But suddenly she began to alter before my eyes, she became like you, with your dreadful intensity," Steva tells his aunt.)

Excellent conducting accompanies honorable enough singing. Janice Watson, a replacement in the title part for the late Susan Chilcott (to whose memory the set is dedicated), commands an attractive, honestly produced soprano. If Watson lacks the tonal refulgence of Gabriela Benackova (who has recorded the role twice) or the interpretive individuality and glow of Decca's Elisabeth Soderstrom (captured, alas, a few years too late), Watson gives a pleasingly affecting, musically scrupulous performance. The cast also features several longtime icons of the British musical establishment. Even without comparison to the fantastic Eva Randova and Wieslaw Ochman for ...