Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
Krzysztof Warlikowski (stage director), Ingo Metzmacher (conductor) – With Dmitry Ulyanov (Boris Timofeevich Ismailov), John Daszak (Zinovy Borisovich Ismailov), Aušrinė Stundytė (Katerina Lvovna Ismailova)...
Cast
Krzysztof Warlikowski — Stage director
Małgorzata Szczęśniak — Costume designer, stage design
Felice Ross — Lighting
Denis Guéguin — Video
Kamil Polak — Animation
Claude Bardouil — Choreographer
Christian Longchamp — Dramaturgy
Program notes
Experience the subversive Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, a unique and mordant work that perfectly encapsulates Shostakovich's conflicted relationship with the Stalin regime (explored in further deal in this superb documentary from our archives). Loosely based on a novella by Russian writer Nikolai Leskov, the libretto follows the attractive Katerina, unhappily married to rich merchant Zinoviy Ismailov, who ends up giving in to murderous urges… Shostakovich sympathized with his anti-heroine, "a beautiful and intelligent young woman suffocating in a vulgar, venal world… The murders she commits are not truly crimes, but an expression of revolt against her sordid and sickening milieu." The work was swiftly censured by Stalin himself, who had little taste for the cruelty of Shostakovich's realism.
In this production at the Paris Opera, Polish director Krzysztof Warlikowski offers up a gritty, no-holds-barred staging, in keeping with the spirit of the opera. Conductor Ingo Metzmacher leads the house orchestra in the pit while, onstage, soprano Aušrinė Stundytė brings thrills and chills in the lead role of Katerina!
Photo © Bernd Uhlig
