Hildegard Behrens as The Kostelnicka

HILDEGARD BEHRENS
dramatic soprano

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HILDEGARD BEHRENS as the KOSTELNICKA in Janacek's JENUFA
	"Hildegard Behrens, our Kostelnicka, is just simply fantastic. It's amazing how a soprano who has been singing the immense roles of Wagner and Strauss has been able to keep the slender quality and clarity of her voice and yet sing with punch and power. " -Sir John Eliot Gardiner, conductor (from an interview by Salzburger Nachrichten, July 21, 2024) photo: CFI
A new production of Leos Janacek's opera Jenufa opened the 2001 Salzburg Festival, with soprano Karita Mattila in the title role and Hildegard Behrens as the Kostelnicka; stage direction was by American filmmaker Bob Swaim, music direction by Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducting the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and the Vienna State Opera Chorus. Below is a sampling of the acclaim showered on Ms. Behrens' splendid performance of this new role. "An event: Hildegard Behrens as the Kostelnicka, who bares her hardened soul with minimalist force and inner discipline." -Wolfgang Schreiber, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 25/07/01 "Hildegard Behrens makes her debut in an elderly role as the Kostelnicka, and that in itself is a historic event. As always, the voice is of spellbinding beauty; add to that the intensity and expressivity of one of the greatest singing actresses of our time." - Heinz Sichrovsky, News, 30/07/01 "Great dramatic heroines portraying the Kostelnicka often rage across the stage. Hildegard Behrens, in turn, is completely in charge: her every movement, her every step controlled. A haze of a lifelong disillusionment from misfortune surrounds her, and soon one seeks to know more and more about this life of gloom that leads her to crime and finally to her breakdown. Behrens succeeds, in her captivating and subtly complex Pledoyer (plea) for a murderess - just as Janacek must have envisioned it." - Beate Kayer, Muenchner Tageszeitung, 25/07/01 Hildegard Behrens rose to the occasion with a magnificent, powerful performance as the Kostelnicka.... here she was phenomenal, and she garnered tremendous applause. -Robert Hilferty, Opera News, 12/01 Hildegard Behrens used her voice to great effect as the foster-mother and her self-absorption and suppressed hysteria were well depicted. -Antonia Couling, Opern Now, 12/01 "The elder sexton, portrayed by Hildegard Behrens - not so much a monster or witch but rather a tool of conflicting inner taboos, which is then destroyed with murderous consequences." - Ljubisa Tosic, Der Standard 25/07/01 "...expressing every devastated emotion, even abstaining from mere beauty of sound - Hildegard Behrens who, as the Kostelnicka, drowns the child of her stepdaughter, Jenufa, in order to save her from social disgrace, and steadfastly atones for her act after the Spring thaw brings back the horrible events of that winter day." -Wolfgang Sander, Frankfurter allgemeine Zeitung, 25/07/01 "- the grand tragic style of the Kostelnicka, here portrayed by Hildegard Behrens with powerful sovereignty...." - Hedi Lehmann, Sudkurier, 25/07/01 "Under (John Eliot Gardiner's) sensitive direction, distinguishing themselves are Karita Mattila as the blond Jenufa driven by an elementary life-impulse - and Hildegard Behrens grandiose in her portrayal of melancholy, bigotry and hardship as Jenufa's stepmother, the dominating Kostelnicka.... The audience at the Premiere enthusiastically celebrated Behrens and Mattila above all else. -Norddeutscher Rundfunk / "Musikforum" 24/7/01 "There is the bigoted, careworn sexton (Hildegard Behrens as a character-actress and vocally in top form)..." - Ernst P. Strob, SVZ, 25/07/2024 "The unbelievably intense Hildegard Behrens turns this dark figure - with all its tragedy - into an event. - Jutta Hoepfel, Tiroler Tageszeitung 25/07/01 "...the Kostelnicka, personified by the splendid Hildegard Behrens, in order to save the honor of her stepdaughter..." - Valerio Cappelli, Correre Della Sera 24/07/01

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