Opera

Káťa Kabanová / Katja Kabanowa

Leoš Janáček

Lyrical score and haunting drama
At the heart of Leoš Janáček’s passionate opera »Káťa Kabanová« is the conflict between the deep desire for personal freedom and social restrictions that are rooted in rigid tradition and morality.

In Calixto Bieito’s production, Káťa Kabanová becomes increasingly desperate as she tries to find her place in society; in the end, she is brutally rejected and driven to suicide.

Bieito says: »Everyone in the story is scrutinising the actions of others. All instances of fear, despair and loneliness are meticulously registered and, if necessary, mercilessly exploited. This leads to Kafkaesque situations that have a deadly impact on real-life events.«

In »Káťa Kabanová«, which premiered in Brno in 1921, Janáček once again succeeded in creating an intimate musical language for this uniquely tender and lyrical composition, in which the orchestra sensitively expresses the emotional states of the various characters

Opera in three acts
Libretto by the composer

Performed in Czech with German and English supertitles

Premiere
28. April 2024,

No further performances in the current season.

Premiere cast