"Janá?ek's most successful and most often performed opera, is a musical study of the social milieu. Christof Loy moves the action of Janá?ek's drama, revolving around the strict sacristan (the Kostelni?ka) who drowns her stepdaughter Jen?fa's illegitimate child for fear of gossip and concern for her future, to a bare white room in which the passage of the seasons is only hinted."