Vienna Opera Tickets

It is not surprising that the name of Leoš Janáček’s 1926 opera, The Makropulos Affair, given that its plot involves decoding a mystery surrounding a missing will, has a title in English that teasingly eludes translation. It has alternatively been called The Makropulos Case, The Makropulos Secret and might have ended up being known as The Makropulos Thing if the original Czech, Věc Makropulos, had been faithfully adhered to.

The Makropulos Affair plays out like a modern detective story with a liberal sprinkling of the pangs and heartbreak caused by unrequited love, an ingredient that has made opera popular since time immemorial.

Albert Gregor and Jaroslav Prus are locked in a legal battle over an inheritance stretching back a hundred years. Enter the enigmatic figure of the celebrated soprano, Emilia Marty, who inexplicably is able to give the location for the lost letters that will resolve their dispute. The initials, E. M., run through the opera like a motif providing clues as to Emilia Marty’s true identity, and why she cannot truly return the affections of the men around her. However, it is only when she reveals herself to the other characters that we can be certain as to who she really is.

It is inescapable that Janáček’s interest in Karel Čapek’s play, which inspired The Makropulos Affair, owed much to his concerns with his own mortality and the fact that he had become beguiled by the charms of a woman much younger than himself.

Fortunately for us, his obsession was turned into a musical triumph and one of the most intriguing operas of the twentieth century.