About performance

Shostakovich composed his Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District to the libretto by Alexander Preis based on the eponymous novel by Nikolai Leskov. It is one of the key music drama oeuvres of the 20th century, a tragedy – caricature, a portrait of rotten society built on the foundations of unrestrained sexuality. Embodied by Katerina – a frustrated and subjugated housekeeper who leaves dead bodies behind. Shostakovich played out this dissonant play of brutal emotionality by using solo concert instruments, choruses and intermezzos. The opera first enjoyed unprecedented success in all its 180 repeat performances. Yet during the Stalinist reign the composer was rejected in a political-tinted article entitled Chaos instead of Music. The opera had to wait until the 1960s for its new staging.

Suitable for age: 17+

The title is premièred on 8 March 2018.

The major music drama by Schostakovich. An emotional testimony that won’t leave anyone intact.

3 hours and 40 minutes (2 intermission)

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