Leoš Janáček completed the opera The Cunning Little Vixen, premiered in Brno in 1924. Its Czech title, Příhody lišky Bystroušky, can be translated as The Adventures of Vixen Sharp-Ears. The libretto was adapted from a serialized comic story by Rudolf Těsnohlídek and illustrator Stanislav Lolek.
The opera follows a young female fox captured by a forester and brought to his household. She eventually escapes, returns to the forest, and forms a relationship with a male fox. Alongside the animals, the opera portrays human characters whose lives echo the work’s themes of renewal, aging, and the cycles of nature.
Janáček’s music uses sharply shaped speech rhythms, concise motifs, and vivid instrumental color. It is neither simply a children’s opera nor a conventional animal fable; its shifting viewpoints allow comic, poetic, and philosophical readings.
The first performance took place at the National Theatre in Brno on 6 November 1924. Different translations use slightly different English titles, but The Cunning Little Vixen is the standard international name.