Jenufa: Translations and Pronunciation

By Timothy Cheek

Czech composer Leos Jan cek's most famous opera, Jenufa is a harrowing tale of forbidden love, abandonment, hypocrisy, desperation, and tragic infanticide. As today's second most frequently performed Czech opera (following Dvor k's Rusalka), Jenufa holds a prominent place in international opera repertoire and continues to draw the attention of new audiences.

Drawing on both scholarly studies and production experience, Timothy Cheek presents an original English-language translation of the original Czech libretto. As with the first two books in the Jan cek Opera Libretti series (Pr hody lisky Bystrousky, The Cunning Little Vixen and K t'a Kabanov ), this volume consists of two parts. Part One gives background on the opera, a discussion about the various voice types and roles, Jan cek's style and Czech performance traditions, Czech folk costumes, and a summary of Czech pronunciation and inflection. Part Two provides the original Czech libretto, word-for-word English translations, idiomatic English translations, IPA for pronunciation of the Czech, translations of the stage directions, and notes about certain words in Czech dialect.

As a valuable resource not only for performers and directors, but also historians and opera lovers, this book brings new accessibility to a beloved and timeless opera.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1442275189
• ISBN13: 9781442275188
• Release Date: December 2016
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 9.1"