Katya Kabanova

ABOUT

Although many in his homeland still consider Leoš Janáček a difficult modernist, all over the world he has long been esteemed as a truly singular classical genius. His opera Katya Kabanova, based on A. N. Ostrovsky’s drama The Storm, deeply impresses every perceptive viewer due to its immense emotionality, attesting to Janáček’s extraordinary empathy. The title heroine, with her dreamy, amorous and heart-wrenching states of mind, is placed in stark contrast with the savage behaviour of those around her. The desperate Katya ultimately finds the solution to her inner conflict between desire and social obligation in the water of the river Volga. The National Theatre in Prague first performed Janáček’s opera a year after its world premiere in Brno in November 1921.

More than a decade since our most recent adaptation, we prepared a new Katya Kabanova production staged by the Spanish director Calixto Bieito, famous for his unorthodox interpretations of classic operas, who has already explored Janáček’s operatic world in his remarkable accounts of Jenůfa in Stuttgart and From the House of the Dead in Nuremberg.

Suitable for audience from 12 years.

Premiere: January 28, 2022

Cast

National Theatre Chorus

National Theatre Orchestra

Conductor: Jaroslav Kyzlink (2024-2025) /  Robert Jindra (2025-2026)


Savjol Prokofjevič Dikoj: Jiří Sulženko

Boris Grigorjevič: Peter Berger

Marfa Ignatěvna Kabanová: Eva Urbanová

Tichon Ivanyč Kabanov: Jaroslav Březina

Katěrina / Káťa: Alžběta Poláčková

Varvara: Arnheiður Eiríksdóttir

Váňa Kudrjáš: Josef Moravec

Kuligin: Miloš Horák

Glaša: Kateřina Jalovcová

Fekluša: Jana Horáková Levicová

Woman: Anna Moriová, Lenka Kučerová

Walker: Petr Dvořák, Vjačeslav Korsak 

Creatives

Stage director: Calixto Bieito

Sets: Aída Leonor Guardia

Costumes: Eva Butzkies

Chorus master: Lukáš Kozubík

Dramaturgy: Beno Blachut