Want to discover more highlights of the English National Opera 2015-2016 season?
Now, the English National Opera are giving London audiences a chance to see what all the fuss was about. Lady Macbeth is a grimy verismo tale of Tsarist Russia. Although its protagonist, Katerina, is every bit as murderous as her appellation applies, she is far from a power-hungry tyrant; rather, she is undone by the lust and mistreatment of the men around her. It is a tale of huge intimacy and emotional power, as sordidly domestic as Puccini with none of the deflating melodrama. The score, as one might expect from Shostakovich, combines lush romanticism with a piercing expressionist bent, conjuring up a nocturnal world of doomed assignments. It is undoubtedly the composer’s operatic masterpiece.
The cast is headed up by glittering American soprano Patricia Racette, with John Danzak and Peter Hoare playing the men in Katerina’s life. Mark Wigglesworth, the ENO’s new music director, will conduct his first production in the role. Given his reputation as “the finest Shostakovich interpreter of his generation” (BBC Music Magazine), he’s unlikely to miss a beat. Dmitri Tcherniakov, famed for his productions of opera from his native Russia, will direct. He has been called “hugely exciting” by The Guardian’s Tom Service, and “an artist … on the edge of the cutting edge” by Opera News. Expect the unexpected.
What | Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, London Coliseum |
Where | London Coliseum, St Martin's Lane, , London , WC2N 4ES | MAP |
Nearest tube | Charing Cross (underground) |
When |
26 Sep 15 – 20 Oct 15, 7:30 PM – 10:30 PM |
Price | £12-125 |
Website | Click Here to book via the English National Opera |