Lady Macbeth

In 1930, Dmitri Shostakovich began working on "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk": based on the plot by Nikolai Leskov, the opera tells the story of the oppressed Katerina, who is torn from her life by an intense love for the dark Sergei and wants to secure her happiness through murder. When the work was completed in 1934, it was simultaneously prepared by two theaters: the premiere took place in Leningrad and two days later it was performed in Moscow – where the opera, as in other cities, was a great success. Shortly after the first performances, Shostakovich found himself forced to modify some passages that were too sexually explicit. After Stalin attended a performance of the opera in 1936 and subsequently published a devastating review of it, colleagues and critics who had previously praised the opera turned against Shostakovich. Only about 30 years later was the opera performed again in the Soviet Union, in a toned-down version under the name "Katerina Izmailova", which was also performed internationally. In 1980, the original version came to Western Europe. In 2009, the premiere also went to the Vienna State Opera. The acclaimed premiere of the original version can be heard on this recording.