sources - Nottingham eTheses - The University of Nottingham

performed in January 1904. In addition to the surviving orchestral parts (a now
incomplete set; see CHAPTER 2, §2.1, OP), vocal material — probably in the form of
vocal parts — would have been prepared for use by the soloists and chorus, though
any such material no longer survives. 37 Janáček was aware, from his activities as a
music critic and his experiences with Počátek románu, of the shortcomings of the
Brno theatre with its meagre forces, and some of his early, pre-première revisions may
indeed have been partly motivated by these limitations. In a lost letter to the director
of the Brno National Theatre, Alois Staněk-Doubravský (who was to sing the role of
Laca in the first performances), Janáček had given details of the opera’s orchestral
requirements. 38 In reply, Staněk-Doubravský wrote on 8 October 1903 (the day of the
handover of scores):
In answer to your kind letter allow me to inform you that I agree to your requirements
regarding orchestral forces and it would be very pleasing for me if you were not only
to hear the first act when we have finished rehearsing, but were also to be present at
the preliminary rehearsals and be of assistance to us with advice and suggestions
according to your intentions. I will let you know the rehearsal schedule in good time.
[…]
At the same time I ask you kindly to hand over the vocal score and the full score
to the messenger [to give] to me. I will endeavour to devote the greatest care to your
work, so that it receives the very greatest success, as it deserves. 39
37 Any such vocal material would have been superseded by the published vocal score of 1908 (KPU),
which must surely have been used in the preparation of subsequent revivals of the opera in Brno; see
CHAPTER 2, §2.1.
38 Staněk-Doubravský (1867–1924) was director of the Brno National Theatre for the 1903–4 season
and also sang the role of Laca in the early Brno performances of Jenůfa; see JODA, 360 and (for a more
detailed account of his career) Petrželka 1996.
39 JODA, JP19.
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