Káťa Kabanová - Royal Ballet and Opera

Káťa Kabanová - Royal Ballet and Opera description

Káťa Kabanová is Leoš Janáček's opera about a young wife whose secret love affair sets her against a closed and unforgiving community.

In a small town on the Volga, Káťa is married to Tichon, who obeys his domineering mother Kabanicha in everything. Stifled at home, she tells Varvara, the family's ward, that she was far happier before her marriage and that she dreams of Boris, a young man whose inheritance depends on staying in favour with his harsh uncle Dikoj. When Tichon leaves on a business trip, Varvara gives Káťa the key to the garden, and Káťa and Boris meet in secret. Two weeks later, as a storm breaks over the town and her husband returns, Káťa is overwhelmed by guilt, with tragic consequences.

Richard Jones's Olivier Award-winning production was first seen at the Royal Opera House in 2019, when it received four-star reviews from The Guardian, The Independent, The Arts Desk and The Stage. It is a co-production with Teatro dell'Opera di Roma. Janáček's score is shaped by the folk melodies and speech of his Czech homeland, from Káťa's first-act aria recalling the freedom she once had to the orchestral storm that opens the final act. The opera is sung in Czech with English surtitles and lasts around two hours and 15 minutes, including one interval.

Janáček wrote both the music and the libretto. The production is directed by Richard Jones, whose other stagings include Festen and Alcina, with designs by Antony McDonald, lighting by Lucy Carter and movement direction by Sarah Fahie. The Czech conductor Jakub Hrůša leads the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House and the Royal Opera Chorus.

Corinne Winters sings the title role, with David Butt Philip as Boris, Nicky Spence as Tichon and Rosie Aldridge as Kabanicha. The cast also includes Marvic Monreal as Varvara, Benjamin Hulett as Kudrjáš, Clive Bayley as Dikoj, Sam Hird as Kuligin, Sarah Pring as Glaša and Lily Mo Browne as Fekluša.

Book now for Káťa Kabanová, Janáček's intense portrait of a woman torn between longing and duty.

Playing at Royal Opera House

Bow Street, London, WC2E 9DD GB (venue info)

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