Austria Janáček, The Excursions of Mr. Brouček: Soloists, Chorus and Extrachorus of Tiroler Landestheater Innsbruck, Tiroler Symphonieorchester Innsbruck / Matthew Toogood (conductor). Tiroler Landestheater Innsbruck, 27.12.2025. (AL-L)
Created in 1920, The Excursions of Mr Brouček occupies a singular position. The work remains a rarity even in houses with an extensive Czech repertoire. The narrative follows an unconventional protagonist – Matěj Brouček, whose name prosaically translates as ‘beetle’ – an alcoholic Prague landlord, narrow-minded, easily irritable and rather unsympathetic. Under the influence of excessive alcohol, he has two fantastic dreams: a journey to the Moon where he encounters a colony of artists whose poetic idealism violently contrasts with his own vulgarity; then, a return to fifteenth-century Prague during the Hussite wars, historical upheavals which he observes with his characteristic detachment and cowardice.
The opera is scheduled to be performed this summer in Bregenz, but its strangeness, its refusal to offer a sympathetic central character, and its episodic structure continue to challenge theatres and audiences. It is therefore to the credit of the Tiroler Landestheater to have staged it and entrusted it to Tobias Ribitzki, who had already directed the production of Falstaff for this same house.
Rather than overloading the action with superfluous concepts – a trap into which many modern directors have been known to fall – Ribitzki allows the narrative to unfold with transparency. The staging references the naive and dreamlike quality of Czech animation from the 1950s, a culturally appropriate and visually effective choice. Sets and videos support this aesthetic, creating worlds that oscillate between reality and fantasy without stifling the musical drama. There is also much accuracy and characterisation in the direction of the actors; both for the singers and for the chorus. The costumes are imaginative with welcome touches of colour.
While the German translation used in this production sometimes sits awkwardly with the Czech prosody, this is an inevitable compromise in a house serving a predominantly German-speaking audience. In the pit, the music hints at what Janáček would soon achieve in The Cunning Little Vixen and The Makropulos Affair with that personal orchestration teeming with detail, full of nervous energy. The touching short lyric duet that closes the first act is pure Janáček. On several occasions, one wonders what this music would have sounded like if Matthew Toogood at the podium had been working with a more substantial orchestra, better balanced between strings and winds, but the ensemble is certainly solid overall.
The singers of the Tiroler Landestheater form a company regularly seen in multiple roles throughout the season. Replacing a local singer, Paul Curievici proved to be remarkable, very expressive and capable of maintaining a dramatic presence through two contrasting acts without ever truly winning the audience’s sympathy, a thankless task but accomplished with conviction. Janáček always asks a lot of his tenors, Alexey Sayapin has ringing high notes although his diction was unclear. Hazel Neighbour in her three incarnations benefits from fine projection and great solidity, even if the voice is also somewhat monochrome. As is often the case in this hall, the most accomplished singing of the evening came from Abongile Fumba in the small role of Kedruta.
Prepared by Michel Roberge, the Tiroler Landestheater Chorus and Extrachorus constitute one of the most solid elements of this production. The singing combined precision and theatrical commitment, with remarkable cohesion through the varied demands of the score, in a work where the choral writing ranges from chamber music textures to full-voiced battle cries.
Here, in the end, is a successful evening, an intelligent work that deserves to be performed more often, a confirmation of Tobias Ribitzki’s talent but above all proof that a good evening at the opera is more than the sum of its parts.
Antoine Lévy-Leboyer
Featured Image: The Excursions of Mr. Brouček © Tiroler Landestheater
Cast:
Matěj Brouček – Paul Curievici
Mazal / Azurean / Peter – Alexey Sayapin
Sacristan / Lunigrove / Domšik – Marcel Brunner
Malinka / Etherea / Kunka – Hazel Neighbour
Würfl / Wonderglitter / Councillor – Alec Avedissian
Piccolo / Child prodigy / Student – Anastasia Lerman
Kedruta – Abongile Fumba
Composer /Harper / Miroslav the Goldsmith – William Blake
Painter /Rainbowglory / Vojta – Michael Gann
Dichter / Cloudy / Vacek – Qi Wang
Production:
Director – Tobias Ribitzki
Set & Costume design – Stefan Rieckhoff
Video – Paul Barritt
Dramaturgy – Diana Merkel
Chorus master – Michel Roberge