Das schlaue Füchslein

With his poetic opera The Cunning Little Vixen, Leoš Janáček brought nothing less than the eternal cycle of becoming and passing to the stage. It tells the life story of the young, rebellious vixen Bystrouška, or Sharp Ears, who is captured by the forester and starts a revolution at his homestead before she succeeds in escaping. Back in the freedom of the forest, she founds a family with a fox and is then shot by a poacher. The seemingly so civilized human world looks wistfully at wild nature, which follows its own laws of life and love. Inspired by an illustrated novella by Rudolf Těsnohlídek, for this opera, which premiered in 1924, Janáček created a highly sensual, impressionistic score that reflects the mutual interaction of humans and animals. This “Czech midsummer night’s dream” will be directed by Ted Huffman, making this his premiere at the Staatsoper: at the podium, the celebrated Janáček-expert Simon Rattle.