Kamila Stösslová

Kamila Stösslová (née Neumannová) (1891-1935) holds an unusual place in music history. The composer Leoš Janáček, upon meeting her in 1917 in the resort town of Luhačovice, fell deeply in love with her, despite both their marriages and the fact he was almost forty years older than Kamila. She was a profound influence on the composer in his last decade.

Despite her ambivalence to his feelings for her, Janáček was inspired by her to create the lead characters of three of his operas; Katya in "Katya Kabanová", the vixen in "The Cunning Little Vixen" and Emilia Marty in "The Makropulos Affair".fact|date=August 2008 Other works that were inspired by his passion include "The Diary of One Who Disappeared", the "Glagolitic Mass", his "Sinfonietta" and the "String Quartet No. 2" (subtitled "Intimate Letters").

While many of these works reveal a realization that the composer's love for her was unrequited, she was nonetheless the subject of intense correspondence. There are over 700 letters (and the aforementioned string quartet which was inspired by them) that bear witness to his intense obsession with this young woman. Although she always remained emotionally aloof, she was with him when he died in 1928.

In the award-winning TV film "In Search of Janacek", written and directed by Petr Kaňka, her character was performed by Zuzana Vejvodová.

Further reading

* John Tyrrell, "Intimate Letters: Leoš Janáček to Kamila Stösslová", Faber and Faber, (2005), ISBN 978-0571225101.