Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk

– Monika Rittershaus

After bringing Dmitri Shostakovich’s early opera The Nose to life in a wonderfully grotesque staging, Barrie Kosky now turns his attention to a far more radical work by the Russian composer: Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, a dark tale of sex and violence featuring one of opera’s most fascinating female characters.

Young and married into wealth, Katerina is nonetheless utterly miserable. Longing for love and joy, she finds herself trapped in a life of dreary boredom, neglected by her impotent husband and humiliated by her cruel father-in-law. In her loneliness, Katerina embarks on a passionate affair with the reckless womanizer Sergei. What begins as an erotic escape soon spirals into a series of chilling murders...Premiering in 1934, Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk broke numerous taboos of the time. Sexual acts and murderous intrigues are laid bare within an orchestral soundscape that is as erotic as it is brutal. As if that weren’t provocative enough, the composer also consistently sympathizes with his anti-heroine, a woman who, despite all her violent deeds, cannot help but move most every heart.

The 2025 Year of Shostakovich will be celebrated at the Komische Oper with a season of his works: opening with his Trio chamber composition, it then moves to the main stage with an opera double bill featuring The Nose and Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, both under Barrie Kosky’s inimitable direction.

3hr 10min incl. intermission

Artists/Collaborators: Victoria Behr (Kostüme), David Cavelius (Chöre), Rufus Didwiszus (Bühnenbild), Daniel Andrés Eberhard (Dramaturgie), Olaf Freese (Licht), James Gaffigan (Musikalische Leitung), Barrie Kosky (Inszenierung), Dmitry Ulyanov (Boris Timofejewitsch Ismailow / Geist des Boris), Elmar Gilbertsson (Sinowi Borissowitsch Ismailow), Ambur Braid (Katerina Lwowna Ismailowa), Sean Panikkar (Sergej), Mirka Wagner (Aksinja), Caspar Krieger (Der Schäbige), Dimitry Ivashchenko (Pope), Marcell Bakonyi (Polizeichef), Susan Zarrabi (Sonjetka), Stephen Bronk (Alter Zwangsarbeiter), Junoh Lee (Hausknecht), Elisa Maayeshi (Zwangsarbeiterin), Thoma Jaron-Wutz (Lehrer), Volker Herden (1. Vorabeiter / Kutscher), Yauci Yanes Ortega (1. Vorabeiter / Kutscher), Matthias Spenke (2. Vorarbeiter), Taiki Miyashita (2. Vorarbeiter), Philipp Schreyer (3. Vorarbeiter), Carsten Lau (3. Vorarbeiter), Ezra Jung (Verwalter / Wächter), Simon Wallfisch (Verwalter / Wächter), Philipp Schreyer (Polizist), Carsten Lau (Polizist), Philipp Schreyer (Bote), Simon Wallfisch (Bote), Chorsolisten der Komischen Oper Berlin (Chor), Komparserie (Komparserie), Orchester der Komischen Oper Berlin (Orchester)

Next date:

• Date Sunday, 08/February/2026 18:00 (5 more dates)
• Venue Komische Oper Berlin: Schillertheater - Großer Saal
• Address Bismarckstraße 110, 10625 Berlin-Charlottenburg