Lady Macbeth von Mzensk

What a life! Katerina, a freedom-loving woman full of longing, is trapped in a patriarchal hell: to her husband, she is nothing more than a potential mother; her father-in-law stalks and bullies her. Violence against women is the order of the day at the estate of this old Russian merchant family. Even the young laborer Sergei is a treacherous macho—and yet, at first, he seems to Katerina like the harbinger of a new, happier life. She throws herself into an affair with him and, from that point on, refuses to make any more compromises. To ensure she never has to let go of her supposed happiness with Sergei, she first kills her father-in-law, then her husband, and finally marries her lover. But the newlyweds’ honeymoon comes to a tragic end in a Siberian penal camp.
Director Ulrike Schwab brings the story to life from the perspective of the female protagonist—as a dark journey through memory in which reality, fantasy, and dreams blur into one another. This exceptional work is conducted by Nicholas Carter.


Opera in four acts and nine scenes
Libretto by the composer and Alexander Preis

by Dmitri Shostakovich

Approx. 3 hours, including intermission
A more precise duration will be announced at the premiere.