The Makropulos Case Tickets

About the Show:

The Makropulos Case (also referred to as The Makropulos Affair) is an opera in three acts with music and libretto by Czech composer Leos Janacek. The story is based on the play of the same name by Karel Capek. It received its world premiere on December 18, 1926 at the National Theatre in Brno, Czech Republic. In 1929, it premiered in Prague and Germany, and in 1964 it received much greater popularity after a production in London. The first United States performance was given (in English translation) at the San Francisco Opera in 1966.

The musical structure of the work includes little thematic development. It is suggested based on Janacek's notes that this was an intentional parallel to the inherently mysterious and discordant nature of the main character, Emilia. It is only when her secret is revealed at the end that some musical unity and resolution occurs. It is often argued that the character of Emilia Marty represents Kamila Stosslova, a younger, married woman who Janacek was in love with during the last years of his life, and who it is argued is the inspiration for several of Janacek's other characters in operas such as The Cunning Little Vixen and Kata Kabanova. Order your Makropulos Case tickets today to see this this prolific composer's inspiration played out in a compelling musical mystery.

Plot Synopsis:

Act I: Prague, 1922. Vitek, clerk to lawyer Kolenaty, comes across the case of Gregor v. Prus, which has been going on for nearly a hundred years. Kolenaty is representing the Gregors, a middle-class family, against the aristocratic Prus family. Albert Gregor enters and asks about the case; Vitek tells him that Kolenaty has taken it to the Supreme Court. Kristina, Vitek's daughter, enters raving about Emilia Marty, a famous soprano she has been in rehearsals with at the opera. Suddenly, Emilia enters with Kolenaty, who explains the case to her: a hundred years ago, Baron Ferdinand Joseph Prus died without leaving a will or a legitimate heir. Ferdinand Gregor said that Prus promised him his estate verbally, but the Prus family disputed this. Emilia asserts that Ferdinand Gregor was the Baron's illegitimate son with an opera singer named Ellian MacGregor, and that he did leave a will that would make Albert Gregor the rightful heir to the estate. She tells Kolenaty where the document is, and he goes off to retrieve it, leaving Gregor alone to pine over Emilia. She rejects him but enlists him to help her find a document written in Greek that she is sure is with the will. Kolenaty returns with the will and his rival, Jaroslav Prus, who challenges him to prove that Ferdinand Gregor was actually the Baron's son. Emilia announces that she can prove it.

Act II: On the empty stage of the opera house, two maintenance workers discuss Emilia's powerhouse performance the night before. Jaroslav Prus enters with his son, Janek, and Kristina. Emilia arrives and brushes of her suitors, including Janek, who has recently diverted himself from pursuing Kristina, and Albert Gregor, who has bought her flowers that she reminds him he can't afford. Suddenly, the old and senile Count Hauk-Sendorf enters, saying that Emilia reminds him of a gypsy woman named Eugenia Montez, with whom he once had an affair in Andalusia. Emilia is surprisingly kind to the old man, addressing him fondly in Spanish.

Emilia sends everyone away but Jaroslav Prus, who is curious about her interest in his family. He asks her about Ellian MacGregor, whose love letters he has found, and conjectures that she and Elina Makropulos, the mother of the Baron's child, might be one and the same. He also says that since Ferdinand's birth certificate lists the last name as Makropulos, only a male descendant with that name can claim the estate. Emilia attempts to buy a sealed envelope that Prus has found with the other papers, but he refuses and exits, feeling triumphant. Albert returns and once again professes his love, but Emilia rejects him and falls asleep. She wakes up to find Janek, who she asks to retrieve the envelope from his father's house. When Prus overhears this conversation, he agrees to hand over the envelope if Emilia spends the night with him.

Act III: The following morning, Prus awakens and hands over the envelope to Emilia. When Prus receives word that his son has killed himself over his hopeless love for Emilia, he is outraged at her lack of sympathy. Hauk-Sendorf arrives, planning to take Emilia to Spain, but a doctor, escorted by Kristina, Gregor, and Kolenaty, leads him away. When Kolenaty confronts Emilia about the similarities between her handwriting and that of Ellian MacGregor, and after the group finds evidence of several other assumed names, all with the initials "E.M.," she offers her confession: She was born with the name Elina Makropulos in Crete over 300 years ago. Her father was a court physician who was forced to test an experimental elixir of life on his daughter. When she realized it worked, she absconded with it and hid her secret by constantly changing identities. She needs the envelope, which conceals the formula, to preserve her for another 300 years. But when age begins to show on her face, she realizes that perpetual youth has led to an empty life, so she allows death to come, handing over the formula. Kristina sets fire to the envelope in the flame of a candle.

Run Time:

Approximately 2 hours and 40 minutes

Advisory:

Due to length, format, and some adult themes, recommended for teens and older.

Creative Team:

Written by	Leos Janacek
Based on	The Makropulos Case by Karel Capek