![]() 12, when the hourlong “NBC News Daily” will also premiere in its place on network TV. “Days of Our Lives” will make its Peacock debut on Sept. It will be replaced in the time slot by a news program, adding to the demise of the soap opera genre that, for most of television’s existence, was a steady presence on the major American networks each afternoon. #Soap opera updates 2018 tv#As his half-brother Laca, Pavel Černoch gave a splendid performance, projecting his darker and beefier tenor effortlessly, and using colour and shading with such skill that he almost had me convinced of the dramatically problematic transition of Laca from a violent bully to a loving husband.After more than 57 years and 14,000 episodes, NBC is moving “Days of Our Lives,” one of the last remaining soap operas, from its afternoon TV perch onto Peacock, the network’s streaming service. With his handsome bright tenor, Norman Reinhardt was a fine Števa, acted with a cockiness that made his character almost instantly disagreeable. Veteran Hanna Schwarz, as Grandmother Buryjovka, allied a commanding stage presence to a powerfully projected mezzo. Amongst the smaller roles, there are some particularly fine contributions by Henry Waddington as a resonant foreman Stárek, Karin Strobos as the credulous Karolka and Sophia Borgos, as the young Jana (who, breaking with convention, is here a girl whom Jenůfa teaches to read). This approach was supported by a strong cast of singers, all showing superb acting ability. There is however perhaps even more to admire in the meticulous way each protagonist worked on re-enacting everyday gestures in a true-to-life manner, like the pregnant Jenůfa being sick in the toilets or her impeded walk after giving birth. The arrival of Števa and his inebriated company at the factory turns into your worst office party nightmare (an occasion for DNO's chorus to shine) and the discovery of the baby’s body is a startling dramatic moment. This family story is the stuff of soap opera at its best.Ĭrowd scenes are expertly choreographed. Lizzie Clachan's sets have the unromantic ugliness of a telenovela: a cross-section of a factory’s office, complete with attached cafeteria and washroom in the first act, followed by cross sections of Kostelnička and Jenůfa’s caravans in the following two. She simply moves the action to the present day and substitutes the closed folk of a Moravian village with the just-as-suffocating community of a modern day trailer park. The libretto of this dark family drama is so gripping that Mitchell does not feel the need to alter the storyline. Jenůfa forgives her and sets off into her new life as Laca’s wife. The little corpse is discovered on the wedding day and, as the mob turns against Jenůfa, about to take justice into their own hands, the Kostelnička confesses her crime. Jenůfa’s baby is born in secrecy but, attempting to rescue the situation by marrying off Jenůfa to Laca, the Kostelnička drowns the infant in the river. Jenůfa’s hopes of marrying Števa founder when he abandons her after she is disfigured by Laca, Števa’s half-brother, who is himself in love with her, in a moment of jealous rage. ![]() This ambition is ruined when Jenůfa becomes pregnant by the dashing but unreliable Števa. The Kostelnička has raised Jenůfa very strictly, giving her an education in the hope that she will escape her own unhappy fate. The original Czech title of the opera, before it was simplified to Jenůfa for foreign audiences, was Její pastorkyňa, which translates roughly as Her stepdaughter and captures the narrative much better becauase, central to the story is the relationship between Jenůfa and her stepmother, the Kostelnička. ![]() The libretto is based on a play by female author Gabriela Preissová. These are themes that appeal to Katie Mitchell in her self-declared mission to bring more female perception and experience to the stage. ![]() ![]() Leoš Janáček’s opera addresses with stark realism the topics of social control, unwanted pregnancy and violence against women. All came together for a dramatically engrossing, moving performance. At the première, Czech conductor Tomáš Netopil led the Netherlands Philarmonic Orchestra in an admirably detailed reading of the score, more light-footed than most and with beautiful transparencies of textures, but with staggering swells in crucial dramatic moments. Hers is a very straightforward approach to the libretto that, supported by a team of excellent singing actors, proves very effective. Twenty years after she directed Jenůfa for Welsh National Opera, Katie Mitchell presents her second, renewed vision of Janáček’s masterpiece at Dutch National Opera. ![]()
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