The Makropulos Case: A Bored Diva, 337 Years Old, Again Commands the Stage

I don't know what it means for music, when the review of a music piece sounds like a review of an Anne Ripe novel, but the sound of this opera is much more interesting than the plot.

It all depends how you examine it. It's easy to write badly (like the reviewer you quoted) and make something sound silly, but there's absolutely nothing second-rate about the Capeks' highly involving plot in 'The Makropoulos Case'. Then, how on earth could anyone sensibly attempt to divorce the 'sound' of Janacek's opera from its 'plot'? Not the composer, for sure.

In any case, there's so much more to Capek's masterpiece than bald narrative. The debates it offers, in exciting thriller format, about time, life and human relationships are deep and haunting. It works extremely well as a straight stage drama in its own right, as a subtle humanitarian counterblast to Shaw's 'Back to Methuselah' which had posited that eternal life would be a Good Thing.

I totally agree with you that it's a very interesting storyline to follow, and a good excuse for writing some very interesting music. I actually like that music can be both corrupted and reinvented while following the plot of a play.

It works extremely well as a straight stage drama in its own right, as a subtlehumanitarian counterblast to Shaw's 'Back to Methuselah' which had posited that eternal life would be a Good Thing.

Remembering that Janacek made an opera of 'Makropulos' because he knew it as a play (by Karel Capek, no less), I would like to know: Has anybody on this group ever seen the play performed? There was a production planned some years ago by Circle in the Square (New York) with Colleen Dewhurst as E.M., but Dewhurst withdrew because she couldn't get out of a television commitment. Shortly thereafter, she died, and there was nothing more about producing the play.

no. it was the era of monkey glands.

all is vanity.

Wasn't there also a Lon Chaney movie from the same year, 'A Blind Bargain'?