The Makropulos Case Review
Janáček's opera, The Makropulos Case, is a legal mystery with a transcendent end, where the 337-year-old protagonist decides life only has meaning within its natural span.
Janáček described his nature-versus-humanity fable The Cunning Little Vixen as
a merry thing with a sad end.
Director Katie Mitchell's adaptation complicates the wordy text with a new subplot, where Krista falls in love with Emilia Marty, introducing pointless feminist complications.
The original play, written by Karel Čapek, evokes sympathy for Emilia Marty, a woman forced to take the potion of eternal life and abused by men over the centuries.
Author's summary: Opera review of The Makropulos Case.