Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
Katerina Ismailova is wealthily married and lonely, her husband impotent and her father-in-law a tyrant. She is trapped in a world where merciless brutality, despotism and cruelty reign. The woman with a lust for life and love gives way to her raw longing for freedom when a new labourer Sergei starts working for the Ismailov family. She throws herself into a passionate affair with him and poisons her father-in-law's food. But the increasing radicalism of her desire for self-determination will claim further victims...
How far may a person go to free themselves from dire circumstances? Here, a woman becomes a vile murderer, and yet the 26-year-old composer Shostakovich sympathises with her. With consistent musical brilliance, this grand, expressive score makes Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk a masterpiece of the 20th century; a mixture of tragic force and satire, full-blooded grotesque and harrowing realism that sugarcoats nothing and yet makes everything palpable. After Deutsche Oper am Rhein’s Tchaikovsky's The Maid of Orleans, director Elisabeth Stöppler and her team return to tell the story of another radically complex female character.
CAST
Boris Timofeyevich Izmailov | Andreas Bauer Kanabas |
|---|---|
Zinoviy Borisovich Izmailov | Jussi Myllys |
Katerina Lvovna Izmailova | Izabela Matula |
Sergei | Sergey Polyakov |
Aksinya | Anke Krabbe |
Tattered peasant | Sergej Khomov |
Steward | Valentin Ruckebier |
Porter / Old Convict | Torben Jürgens |
Priest | Beniamin Pop |
Police Inspector | Thorsten Grümbel |
Sonyetka | Maria Polańska |
Policeman | Constantin Moței |
1st Workman | Dae-Il Park |
2nd Workman | Mamuka Manjgaladze |
3rd Workman | Zhive Kremshovski |
Orchestra | Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra |
Chorus | Deutsche Oper am Rhein Chorus |
| ... | |
Music | Dmitri Shostakovich |
|---|---|
Text | Alexander Preys Dmitri Shostakovich |
Conductor | Vitali Alekseenok |
Director | Elisabeth Stöppler |
Sets | Annika Haller |
Costumes | Su Sigmund |
Lights | Volker Weinhart |
Chorus Master | Gerhard Michalski |
Dramaturgy | Anna Melcher |
| ... | |
Story
Act I
Katerina is unhappily married to the merchant Zinovi Izmajlov and terribly bored. Her father-in-law Boris Izmajlov criticises her every move. When Zinovi has to travel for a few days, Boris forces Katerina to swear allegiance to her husband. Sergey, a handsome young worker, besieges the girl Aksinja with a number of colleagues. Katerina reprimands the men, and Sergey challenges her to a wrestling match. Just when he has forced her to the ground, Boris catches them and chases the two apart. Under the pretext of wanting to borrow a book, Sergey knocks at Katerina's door at night and seduces her.
Act II
Unable to sleep, Boris sees Sergey leaving Katerina's room through the window. He gives him a beating and has him locked up. Then he orders Katerina to prepare something to eat for him. She obeys but adds rat poison. Soon the old man is convulsing. Katerina takes his keys and frees Sergey. As Katerina and Sergey share the conjugal bed, Boris's ghost appears in the bedroom every night. Zinovi returns; he has already heard everything and interrogates Katerina. When he hits her with Sergey's belt, she calls her lover and together they strangle Zinovi. They hide the body in the cellar.
Act III
While Katerina and Sergey have their marriage blessed, one of the workers goes to the cellar, looking for liquor. He breaks open the door, finds Zinovi's body and warns the police. The chief of police is happy with the news because he feels insulted as Katerina did not invite him to the wedding. At the end of the party, Katerina discovers that the cellar door has been broken open. The police arrive when she and Sergey are about to flee. Katerina confesses and both are arrested.
Act IV
The lovers are put on a transport to Siberia with other forced labourers. Sergey no longer cares for Katerina and tries to seduce Sonyetka, a younger prisoner. As a gift for Sonyetka, he manages to get Katerina to take off a pair of stockings with an excuse. When she finds out how she has been tricked, she pushes Sonyetka into the river and jumps after her. They both drown while the parade of prisoners continues.
VIDEOS
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