In 1917, Czech composer Leoš Janácek became obsessed with a married woman 40 years his junior.
In the throes of despair, he penned more than 700 love letters and a haunting 22-part song cycle called Diary of One Who Disappeared, about a village boy who falls in love with a Romany girl.
Director Ivo van Hove, in collaboration with Flemish opera company Muziektheater Transparant, brings his trademark physicality and stripped-down aesthetic to bear on Janácek’s masterpiece. His contemporary reimagining of Janácek’s singular work paints a deeply affecting portrait of identity, infatuation, and ultimately, alienation.
