Jenůfa

About

After delivering one of the most stunning productions in recent Met memory with his 2025 take on Strauss’s Salome, director Claus Guth returns with a psychologically probing setting of Janácek’s haunting Jenufa, extolled by The Telegraph at its London premiere as an “edgy, evocative staging that will surely become a classic.” Headlining the new staging is soprano Asmik Grigorian, whose dramatic intensity and powerhouse voice are perfectly suited to the demands of the title character, a young woman driven to despair by abandonment and betrayal. Legendary soprano Nina Stemme returns to the Met as the Kostelnicka, Jenufa’s stern stepmother, who commits an unspeakable act in a misguided attempt to save Jenufa from ruin. Standout tenors Sean Panikkar and Allan Clayton also star as the impulsive Laca, who disfigures Jenufa in a fit of jealousy, and his stepbrother Števa, who fathers her child before cruelly abandoning her. Maestro Tomáš Hanus makes his company debut on the podium.