Act 2: 00.38.06 Act 3: 01.09.02
Martin Myer wrote in Opera: "Everybody was beyond praise. Benackova's voice is pure, virtually without vibrato and absolutely without whine, airy, yet rich in overtones; a unique instrument. She is also a fine, grave actress. Rysanek has been with us for 33 years in New York (she made her debut vice Callas as Lady Macbeth), and she gets steadily better; the lower register is firm and smooth, and that is, of course, what she needed here. Susan Quittmeyer was Varvara, lean and lithe, correctly cast for once: her voice blended marvellously with Benakova's All three tenors were first-class: Allen Glassman as the put-upon husband; Wieslaw Ochman as the cowardly lover; and Peter Straka from Czechoslovakia, another debut, as the free-and-easy boyfriend who will take Varvara away from all this. Aage Haugland was simply wonderful both vocally and dramatically as the besotted merchant. And Mackerras is everyone's first choice as a conductor of Janácek operas."

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