The Cunning Little Vixen: Opera In The Wild

Presentation

The project is built around Leoš Janáček’s opera The Cunning Little Vixen as an exceptionally strong European work that makes it possible to connect opera with environmental imagination, public debate on the relationship between humans and nature, and the active participation of children and young emerging artists.
The project does not approach ecology as an added theme, but proceeds from the conviction that The Cunning Little Vixen naturally contains a sensitive reflection on the relationship between humans, animals and the landscape. In today’s context, the opera appears as an ecological opera ahead of its time. Its heroine, the vixen Bystrouška, symbolises vitality, freedom and harmony with natural cycles, while her fate opens fundamental questions of interspecies empathy and balance. Janáček’s opera emphasises the cyclical nature of life, death and renewal, inviting us to perceive human beings as part of the natural system rather than as its superior stewards.
The Cunning Little Vixen (1924), based on the stories of Rudolf Těsnohlídek and Stanislav Lolek, follows a wild vixen captured by a forester, her escape, love, motherhood and eventual death. Her end is not tragic, but forms part of the continuous renewal of nature.
The production will be presented in two contrasting open-air settings: Hukvaldy in the Moravian-Silesian Region, Janáček’s birthplace, and Noto, Sicily. The project treats landscape not as a backdrop but as an active dramaturgical partner: the same musical work encounters two different European environments. It will involve emerging opera singers selected through the Luděk Golat International Singing Competition, children, experienced professionals and local partners, opening opera to younger audiences and families while preserving the artistic integrity of the original work.

Co-producing Partners