The Little cunning vixen by Leoš Janáček at the Opéra national de Paris

The Little Cunning Vixen, by Léos Janacek Orchestra, Chorus and Atelier Lyrique of Opéra National de Paris, Dennis Russell Davies (direction) André Engel (stage director) Elena Tsallagova (the vixen), Jukka Rasilainen (Gamekeeper), Michèle Lagrange (Gamekeeper's wife / Owl), Hannah Esther Minutillo (the fox), David Kuebler (Schoolmaster), Roland Bracht (Priest), Paul Gay (Harasta) Directed by Don Kent Recorded at the Opéra national de Paris in 2008 The story is actually very simple: a gamekeeper falls in love with a vixen, who symbolises beauty, femininity and wit. She lives among humans and understands that animals are free, rather than slaves to the human race. A fantastic and entertaining bestiary appears on stage. The children's performance is superb. Who else could convey such freshness, such savagery and such an imaginary world? We are offered a glimpse of an enchanted and fantastical world where love and freedom reign supreme. This light-spirited, naïve and melancholy fable introduces us to the great theatre of life. With ineffable poetry, Janácek listens to and recreates the eternal Song of the Earth. .