Which Janáček opera centers on the immortal Emilia Marty?

Leoš Janáček’s opera The Makropulos Affair centers on the apparently immortal Emilia Marty.

Janáček based the opera on Karel Čapek’s 1922 play The Makropulos Affair. The story begins as a legal dispute over an inheritance and develops into a mystery involving Emilia Marty, a celebrated singer who has lived for more than three centuries because of an elixir prepared for her ancestor Elina Makropulos.

The opera premiered at the National Theatre in Brno on 18 December 1926. Its central question is not simply whether eternal life is possible, but whether an unlimited lifespan would make human existence more meaningful or less valuable.

The title is sometimes confused with Janáček’s other operas because his works often use literary sources and unusual protagonists. Jenůfa and Káťa Kabanová are serious dramas, while The Cunning Little Vixen uses animals and humans in a more symbolic world.