Bohuslav Martinů
THE GREEK PASSION
Moravian Theatre Olomouc

FRI 12 May — 7 pm Moravian Theatre

Three years after the successful production of The Fall of the Antichrist (2014), J. A. Pitínský comes back to the Moravian Theatre with another impressive piece of spiritual theme.

The Greek Passion is an opera epilogue of Bohuslav Martinů and it is based on Nikos Kazantzakis' novel Christ Recrucified. It is a story of a village and its people who are during the time of passion plays surprised by refugees from another village destroyed by Turks raids. The emotional and spiritual power of the story captured the composer's attention since he had an exile experience himself. With unusual methods and innovative approach Martinů portrayed the life in the Greek countryside, the world of true belief and two-faced opportunism. The Greek Passion was first staged in 1961 in Zurich, almost two years after the composer's death.

directed by Jan Antonín Pitínský

translated by Eva Bezděková
musical preparation Petr Šumník
conductor Petr Šumník, Tomáš Hanák
chorus master Lubomíra Hellová
stage design Milan Nytra
costumes Jana Preková
assistant director Petr Hloužek
musical cooperation Milada Jedličková, Lucie Kaucká
stage manager Radek Vojtěch

premiere 24 February 2017

characters and cast
Grigoris David Szendiuch / Oleg Korotkov, g.a.    
Fotis Jiří Přibyl / Michal Kubečka, g.a.    
Patriarcheas Vladimír Třebický
Ladas (spoken part) Václav Bahník / Jaroslav Krejčí
Michelis (+ Andonis) Ondřej Doležal / Milan Vlček
Konstandis Martin Štolba / Jakub Tolaš, g.a.
Janakos Yannakos Petr Martínek / Peter Svetlík, g.a.
Manolios Jakub Rousek / Milan Vlček
Nikolios Lucie Janderková / Iva Ryzová, g.a.
Panaitis Václav Málek, g.a.
Kateřina Radoslava Mičová / Barbora Polášková
Lenio Elena Gazdíková / Lea Vítková
an old woman Magda Málková / Zdeňka Mollíková
Despinio Barbara Sabella / Lucie Kordová    
an old man Vladislav Zápražný

The main theme of the opera – a conflict of helping to a neighbour in need and selfishness – is rather topical thanks to the current wave of refugee crisis. However, director Jan Antonín Pitínský was not intentionally influenced solely by this fact. (…) In the age-old drama of barriers, which those who are keeping well built to separate from those who beg for help, set to the context of preparation of amateur passion plays, the director got inspired by folk traditions, plays and Nativity Scenes.
Helena Havlíková, Lidovky.cz, 7^th March 2017

Director Pitínský comes back to where he started with the Ochotnický kroužek and HaDivadlo, to productions with folklore feel such as A Year in a Village (Mrštík brothers). His Greek Passion is theatre on theatre on theatre.
Olga Janáčková, Opera Plus, 27^th February 2017

Jan Antonín Pitínský (1955) – a poet, writer, playwright, and theatre and opera director – was born in Zlín as Zdeněk Petrželka. After graduation from grammar school and studies to become a librarian he tried a few different jobs. In 1985 he co-founded Ochotnický kroužek in Brno.

He created almost 100 productions which were often awarded prestigious awards. The most noteworthy pieces include Sister Anxiety (1995), Ritter, Dene, Voss (1996) a Histrionics (1999, all at Divadlo Na zábradlí) či Job (1996, HaDivadlo). It was Pitinský and his productions which managed to bring attention to forgotten local scenes – Slovácké divadlo in Uherské Hradiště (2000: Gazdina roba, 2004: The Cunning Little Vixen, 2007: Divá Bára) and Městské Divadlo Zlín (1995: Její pastorkyňa, 2006: Hippodamia's Death, 2009: A Year in a Village). Since 1998 he has been working at the National Theatre in Prague and continuously stages Czech classic in new interpretation: Wandering, Grandmother, Radúz and Mahulena, Our Swaggerers, The Bagpiper of Strakonice, etc.

In 2016 he produced Sládeček's play The Opening of the Wells of Alfred Radokat the National Theatre Brno based on motives of Bohuslava Martinů's cantata, a year later he staged The Greek Passion at Moravian Theatre in Olomouc.

The Flora Theatre Festival has systematically reflected Pitínský's work: The Ignoramus and the Madman (Slovak National Theatre, Bratislava), Renata Kalenská, Lidové noviny (HaDivadlo, both 2006), The Peach Blossom Fan (Divadlo v Dlouhé, 2009), The Cunning Little Vixen, Divá Bára, Gypsies and Kaliba's Crime (Slovácké divadlo, 2005, 2007, 2010 and 2013) and The Fall of the Antichrist (Moravian Theatre, 2014).

Petr Šumník graduated from the Orchestra conducting program at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts where he studied under teachers such as Petr Vronský, Jiří Pinkas and Lubomír Mátl. Since 2001 he has been the chief conductor of the Moravian Theatre Opera in Olomouc. He is regularly invited to cooperate with the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava or the Slovak State Philharmonic Košice. He teaches at the Janáček Conservatory in Ostrava which is a students orchestra and with whom they performed at the Prague Spring International Music Festival in 2004.

With the ensemble of Slezské divadlo Opava, where he worked as the head of the opera ensemble from 1995 to 2001, he was awarded the Libuška award for his production of Puccini's La Bohème, Hurník's Oldřich and Boženka and Poulenc'sDialogues of the Carmelitesat the festival Opera 1997, 1999 and 2001. The prize for the best production at the Opera 2007 festival for Verdi's Attila he already brought to Moravian Theatre.