THE MACROPOULOS AFFAIR at Teatr Wielki - Opera Narodowa, Moniuszko Auditorium

The mysterious Emilia Marty sings: ”I have been living for 337 years. I was born in 1585.”. So it is 1922 when Karel ?apek placed the sensational plot of his play. The Macropoulos Affair is a contemporary court case, the solution of which may be found in the past, in the olden time of Rudolf II – the alchemist-emperor. But it is the past for everyone except for Elina Macropoulos, the present singer Emily who has been treated with the elixir of eternal youth but instead of happiness got only bitterness. A year after Karel ?apek’s play’s premiere the great Leoš Janá?ek treated its heroine with just as powerful elixir of his own make. That is why his 90-year old opera is still one of the most excellent works of music modernism. Still modern and bitter and in Christoph Marthaler's scenic version as intriguing as Rudoplhinian alchemy.