La guineueta astuta

The score of The Cunning Little Vixen elegantly blends several compositional styles: Czech post-Romanticism—with its wealth of folk dances and melodies—German modernism, and numerous passages that reveal the influence of French Impressionism. This brief interlude, depicting the transition from a sorrowful night to a glorious dawn, bears the unmistakable imprint of Debussy's and Ravel's style. It not only marks Bystrouška's journey towards freedom but also stands as one of the most beautiful passages ever written for symphony orchestra.

Having displayed all her cunning in adulthood—outwitting a badger to take over its den and repeatedly fooling the humans—Bystrouška has come to rule a large part of the forest. But a surprise awaits her: one day she meets a magnificent golden-furred fox who captivates her, and with whom she falls irreversibly in love. This duet for soprano and mezzo-soprano contains moments of extraordinary lyricism, in which the two voices sing both individually and together to express the passion of love—a force that leads to shared life, reproduction, and the continuation of life itself.

Just as at the beginning of the opera, the Forester leans against the trunk of a tree and prepares to fall asleep. At this moment, he sings his longest solo passage, a kind of aria—with moments of immense lyricism within a declamatory vocal style—in which he reflects upon his life. There he encounters creatures from the past—the granddaughter of the frog that awakened him in the opening scene—and gives voice to the opera's central idea: the eternal continuity of the cycle of life and the perpetual renewal of nature.