Janacek

Talk story about a visit with the Czech pianist Rudolf Firkusny, on the occasion of the first Metropolitan Opera production of "Kata Kabonova," by Leos Janacek. In his West Side apartment, Mr. Firkusny tells how, when he was five, his mother took him to audition for Janacek, who agreed to undertake his musical education. When Mr. Firkusny was nine, he played the first pages of "Kata Kabanova" with the composer, who was correcting proofs of the printed score at the time. He sat in Janacek's box at the National Theatre in Brno on Nov. 23, 1921, the night of the opera's premiere. He talks about the composer's life and musical ideas, which were long misunderstood. He says that Janacek's late operas were inspired by his love for Kamila Stosslova, a much younger married woman he met in 1917. This caused tension with his wife, Zdenka. Mr. Firkusny possesses some musical scribbles that Janacek jotted down while walking in the park. He was back in the Janacek box for the premiere of "The Cunning Little Vixon," which was given on a bill with a ballet by Bohuslav Martinu. Both works are about animals, and Janacek's only comment on Martinu's work was, "I want to know why his rooster has a better costume than my rooster!"

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