Young and married into wealth, Katerina is nonetheless utterly miserable. Longing for love and joy, she finds herself trapped in a life of dreary boredom, neglected by her impotent husband and humiliated by her cruel father-in-law. In her loneliness, Katerina embarks on a passionate affair with the reckless womanizer Sergei.
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KEY VISUAL Lady Macbeth von Mzensk
What begins as an erotic escape soon spirals into a series of chilling murders.
Premiering in 1934, Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk broke numerous taboos of the time. Sexual acts and murderous intrigues are laid bare within an orchestral soundscape that is as erotic as it is brutal. As if that weren’t provocative enough, the composer also consistently sympathizes with his anti-heroine, a woman who, despite all her violent deeds, cannot help but move most every heart.
The 2025 Year of Shostakovich will be celebrated at the Komische Oper with a season of his works: opening with his Trio chamber composition, it then moves to the main stage with an opera double bill featuring The Nose and Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk , both under Barrie Kosky’s inimitable direction.
Additional information
Dmitri D. SchostakowitschOpera in four acts [1934]based on a novella by Nikolai S. LeskovLibretto by Alexander G. Preis
Participating artists
Victoria Behr (Kostüme)
David Cavelius (Chöre)
Rufus Didwiszus (Bühnenbild)
Olaf Freese (Licht)
James Gaffigan (Musikalische Leitung)
Barrie Kosky (Inszenierung)
Dmitry Ulyanov (Boris Timofejewitsch Ismailow / Geist des Boris)
Elmar Gilbertsson (Sinowi Borissowitsch Ismailow)
Ambur Braid (Katerina Lwowna Ismailowa)
Sean Panikkar (Sergei)
Mirka Wagner (Aksinja)
Caspar Krieger (Der Schäbige)
Jens Larsen (Pope)
Marcell Bakonyi (Polizeichef)
Susan Zarrabi (Sonjetka)
Stephen Bronk (Alter Zwangsarbeiter)
