Katya Kabanova, Grange Park Opera review ★★★★★

The opening night of Katya Kabanova at Grange Park Opera may have brought the sun that we have been deprived of so far this summer, but David Alden’s new production filled the Theatre in the Woods at West Horsley Place with a dark and tumultuous storm.

Leoš Janáček’s 1921 opera is set in a small Russian village, and tells the story of Katya, who is trapped in a stifling marriage with the weak drunkard Tichon, and dominated by her cruel mother-in-law Kabanicha. Longing for freedom, Katya has a passionate affair with Boris. Guilt-ridden and fearing retribution, she confesses her infidelity and decides on a drastic course of action.

In his programme notes, Rupert Christiansen describes the compassion with which Janáček treats Katya and her affair, in light of the long-term adoration the composer had for a married woman, Kamila.

Susan Bullock as Kabanicha. Photo: Marc Brenner

Although the audience is sympathetic to her loveless marriage and recoils at her bullying mother-in-law, Katy's descent into madness does not feel like a particularly compassionate resolution. The moments of light, and even humour, throughout this production are lovely, but its impact comes from the portrayal of the harshness and cruelty that dominate Katya’s life.

Hannah Postlethwaite’s set in the first two acts is beautiful and stark, featuring at most a couple of chairs and a religious painting. Although it perhaps does not evoke the claustrophobia of village life, we get a sense of the depth of Katya’s loneliness. The white, sparse room in which she is forced to live feels foretelling of the madness that will take hold of her in Act 3.

This is largely the impact of Tim Mitchell’s brilliant lighting and creative use of shadow on a predominantly blank stage. When Katya longingly reminisces on the peace and love that filled her childhood, the contrast between the warmth of Janacek’s score and libretto and the harsh lighting makes the misfortune of her life all the more devastating.

Benjamin Hulett as Vanya and Katy Brady as Varvara. Photo: Marc Brenner

Katya and Varvara’s sisterhood is tenderly portrayed by soprano Natalya Romaniw and mezzo-soprano Katy Bray, and it is one of the joys of the first half. Bray is delightful to watch on stage, and her relationship with Vanya, sung by tenor Benjamin Hulett, is especially charming. In the bleakness of the world in which they exist, Varvara’s determinedness for both her and Katya to find some kind of escape is refreshingly played by Bray.

The ensemble is incredibly strong; Thomas Atkins plays an elegant and absorbing Boris, and sings characteristically gracefully. Susan Bullock plays the overbearing mother-in-law with chilling conviction, made all the more extreme by Adrian Thompson's wonderfully hopeless Tichon, who trails around after her. Although there is a moment when he tries to stand up for his wife, it is perhaps the supremacy of this mother and son relationship that makes Katya seem the loneliest.

This production, however, is made by its lead, and Natalya Romaniw shines as Katya. The power of her voice matches the emotion and depth of Janáček ’s score, and her final aria before jumping in the river is haunting.

Clive Bailey as Dikoj and the chorus of Grange Park Opera. Photo: Marc Brenner

Although the second half does open with some slightly unconvincing choreography with umbrellas, the third act builds to a heart-breakingly agonising duet from Atkins and Romaniw.

The love shown to Katya before her final action and the callousness of her mother-in-law afterwards make her end all the more painful.

Alden’s production is filled with marvellous singers on an atmospheric set, and with more sun on the horizon, it is definitely worth making the trip to the Surrey Hills for a fantastic evening out.

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Katya Kabanová is sung in Russian with English surtitles. Further performances are on 22, 27 June, 3 and 12 July