“YOU ARE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL OF THEM ALL.” If anyone ever says that to you in an opera, run.

I saw Leos Janacek’s Jenufa last night at the Kennedy Center, with Patricia Racette as the title character. It was breathtaking. I’m deeply opera-illiterate (I’m not sure I can tell good singing from bad singing, let alone good singing from great singing), but I found it incredibly moving. And I do think I can tell great acting: Racette’s face and body were both beautifully expressive. Anyway, I don’t know what I can tell you to make you go see the thing (it closes on Thursday!–there are only two performances left, but they’re not sold out yet), but you really, really should. (About 2/3 of the way through, after one particularly raw scene, I turned to my companion and said, “You know, there are nights when the pregnancy center feels a lot like that….”)