The Guardian
‘Charles Mackerras's second recording of The Makropulos Case was taped live during the opening run of English National Opera's production last year... Cheryl Barker captures Marty's frustration superbly. Following Alden, however, she gives no hint of the woman's vulnerability until she reaches the final pages with their assertion that life only has meaning when it is finite. Mackerras's conducting is phenomenal.’
Opera in three acts
Libretto by the composer
after Karel Capek's comedy Vec Makropulos
English translation by Norman Tucker
The Cast
Cheryl Barker, soprano - Emilia Marty (E.M.)
Neal Davies bass-baritone - Dr Kolenaty
John Graham-Hall, tenor - Vítek
Elena Xanthoudakis, soprano - Kristina
Robert Brubaker, tenor - Albert Gregor
John Wegner, baritone - Baron Jaroslav Prus Thomas Walker, tenor - Janek Prus
Graham Clark, tenor - Count Hauk-Šendorf
Graham Danby, bass - Stage Hand
Kathleen Wilkinson, mezzo-soprano - Cleaner Susanna Tudor-Thomas, mezzo-soprano
- Chambermaid
English National Opera Chorus
English National Opera Orchestra
Sir Charles Mackerras - conductor
Recorded in London Coliseum - 18, 20, 24 & 26 May 2006
Producer - Brian Couzens, Sound engineers - Mike Hatch and Andrew Mellor
Gramophone
'This is Mackerras's second recording. The first, in 1979, had the Vienna Philharmonic in radiant form accompanied a fine cast singing in Czech.
It says much for the quality of the ENO Orchestra that for this new version in English the playing is equally polished, and often outshines that of the Viennese in its extra dramatic bite. The recording brings an advantage, too - not as plushy as the Viennese version and with extra separation and clarity in a clearly focused acoustic. That extra clarity and separation means the words are astonishingly clear. Cheryl Barker rivals Elisabeth Soderstrom on Decca in dramatic bite and when in Act 3 Emilia is at last given a sustained solo, Barker is even more powerful, aptly abrasive and less moulded. On any count both versions have one marvelling at the score's emotional thrust and dramatic compulsion, original in every way and one of Janá?ek’s supreme masterpieces.'
The Daily Telegraph
‘It captures last May's acclaimed staging of Janá?ek’s penultimate opera, in which Cheryl Barker plays the diva whose three centuries of youthfulness are beginning to wear off. Her sense of desperation - torn between regaining the formula and at last finding release from eternal life - colours every phrase. Her singing... is firm and vivid... She is admirably supported by Neal Davies, Robert Brubaker, John Wegner, John Graham-Hall, Thomas Walker and Graham Clark as the various men who fall under her Lulu-like spell... All the singing is closely miked - essential in this most wordy of Janá?ek’s operas - but it never compromises the depth and richness of sound from the orchestra pit in the overall balance. And in the pit itself, Mackerras responds to the composer's fecund writing with a performance of rhythmic vitality and textural clarity.’
The Observer
'So good it hurts... some of the greatest operatic music ever... Entrust Janá?ek’s case to one of his greatest champions, Sir Charles Mackerras, and you have one of the most memorable evenings at English National Opera... Cheryl Barker is outstanding as Emilia Marty... Unprecedented eloquence from ENO’s fine house.’
