On the banks of the Volga, in a small Russian town, lives a poetic soul: Katia Kabanova. How could she not feel stifled, trapped between an apathetic husband and a tyrannical mother-in-law? Believing she can satisfy her longing for the absolute in the arms of another man, Katia soon discovers that the sting of remorse will drive her toward a tragic fate. 

Inspired by Alexander Ostrovsky’s play The Storm, Leoš Janáček delivered a magnificent portrait of a sensitive and complex woman, torn between the force of her desire and social pressure, at the National Theatre in Brno in 1921. Tender, lyrical and passionate, the highly emotional score is enveloped in shimmering orchestration. 

By transposing the work to the courtyard of an Eastern European apartment block, where neighbours spy on one other or sink into boredom, director Christoph Marthaler brings Katia Kabanova’s inner drama to the fore.