Katia Kabanova

Katia Kabanova Leoš Janáček Palais Garnier Running time: 1h55 without interval Language: Czech Surtitles: French / English On the banks of the Volga, in a small Russian town, lives a poetic soul…

Katia Kabanova

Leoš Janáček

Palais Garnier

Running time: 1h55 without interval

Language: Czech

Surtitles: French / English

On the banks of the Volga, in a small Russian town, lives a poetic soul: Katia Kabanova. How can one not feel stifled in the company of a feeble husband and a tyrannical mother-in-law? Katia believes she can quench her thirst for the absolute in the arms of another man, but she has reckoned without the gnawing of remorse, which leads her towards a tragic fate.

Drawing on Alexander Ostrovsky's play The Storm, Leoš Janáček produced in 1921 at the National Theatre in Brno the magnificent portrait of a sensitive and complex woman, torn between the force of her desire and social pressure. Tender, lyrical and burning, the score, raw to the touch, is bathed in shimmering orchestration.

By transposing the work to the courtyard of an apartment block in Eastern Europe, where the neighbours spy on one another or simply bore themselves, the director Christoph Marthaler brings the inner drama of Katia Kabanova to the surface.

Simone Young, musical direction (except 13 Feb.)

Aliisa Neige Barrière, musical direction (13 Feb.)

Christoph Marthaler, director

Corinne Winters, Kátia Kabanová

John Daszak, Tichon Kabanov

Doris Soffel, Marfa Ignatieva Kabanova (Kabanicha)

Sean Panikkar, Boris Grigorievitch

Peixin Chen, Saviol Dikoi

Thomas Atkins, Vania Koudriach

Seray Pinar, Varvara

Marianne Chandelier, Glacha