Julia Sporsén has garnered wide acclaim for her performances in the title role of Janáček's Jenůfa at Gothenburg Opera, where she also performed the title role in Iolanta last year with great success.
“Julia Sporsén's supple, penetrating soprano lends the title role an air of moral strength – as with her Desdemona in the recent Gothenburg Otello – and forms a lyrical, brighter counterpoint to her stage stepmother.”
Hugh Canning, Oper!
“Sporsén's large scene with the prayer to the Virgin Mary is heartbreakingly beautiful”
Hanna Höglund, Göteborgs-Posten
“The female vocal triumvirate Ingrid Tobiasson, Katarina Karnéus and Julia Sporsén dominate the stage. They make me wonder what it is that makes women actually better actors than men on the opera stage… Julia Sporsén's soprano goes from strength to strength. She is outstanding in her way of making you – paradoxically – forget that she is singing and just follow what she is doing with the role.”
Gunilla Brodrej, Expressen
“Julia Sporsén's impeccable Jenůfa…”
Magnus Bunnskog, Svenska Dagbladet
“Julia Sporsén's Jenůfa is clear-sighted and strong, and sounds both dramatic and deeply lyrical. She realizes early in the opera that her love has made her sense disappear. The scene in the second act where she searches for her missing child is utterly heartbreaking.”
Mia Rådström, OPERA magazine (Sweden)
“Jenůfa herself is played by Julia Sporsén, who also gets the opportunity to play out a wide range of emotions, and show what a first-class singer she is. The vulnerability Jenůfa experiences literally shines out towards the audience in Julia Sporsén's strongly present performance.”
Christofer Psilander, Scenkonst
“Julia Sporsén (Jenůfa) sings the title role without any harshness or uncertainty in her vocalization; in this production, as is now customary with Janáček's operas, the singing is in Czech. Her performance vividly portrays the character's tremendous inner development, as she does not resign herself to her fate at the end of the final act, but takes it into her own hands.”
Dr. Martin Knust, OperaPoint
Performances run until 16th March. You can read more about the production here.
Photo credit: Håkan Larsson
