Kát’a Kabanová

Trapped in a small town and an unhappy marriage, bullied by her domineering mother-in-law, Kát’a Kabanová finds herself drawn into a passionate affair. But soon pleasure is overwhelmed by guilt and, crushed under its weight, she is driven to the brink.

‘I’ve started writing an opera. The main character is a woman, so gentle by nature, a breeze would carry her away, let alone the storm that breaks over her…’ As Anna Karenina or Emma Bovary are to literature, so Kát’a Kabanová is to opera. The heroine of Janáček’s tragedy is a devastating portrait of passion destroyed and innocence tainted by a hypocritical society – music-theatre at its most violent, exquisite and immediate.

The Czech folk melodies that decorate the surface of the composer’s earlier works are woven into the fabric of an intensely lyrical piece that blends bold national colours with brutal, universal drama. Damiano Michieletto directs a new production, conducted by Robin Ticciati.

Festival artwork

We have worked with artist Tom Hammick to create a series of images to illustrate the six operas that make up Festival 2021.

You can find out more about Tom’s work at hammickeditions.com and he will be exhibiting works inspired by our repertoire at Glyndebourne throughout Festival 2021. A selection of original works and prints will be available from Glyndebourne Shop.

This work is entitled Nightfall.

Creative team

Conductor
Robin Ticciati

Director
Damiano Michieletto

Designer
Paolo Fantin

Lighting Designer
Carla Teti

London Philharmonic Orchestra

The Glyndebourne Chorus

Cast includes

Kát’a Kabanová
Kateřina Knĕžíková

Varvara
Aigul Akhmetshina

Kabanicha
Katarina Dalayman

Tichon
Nicky Spence

Dikoj
Alexander Vassiliev

Boris
David Butt Philip

Vána Kudrjaš
Thomas Atkins