On the fiftieth anniversary of Shostakovich's death, La Scala opens its season with his masterpiece, Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District , based on Nikolai Leskov's story in which a young bride, with the complicity of her lover, kills her husband and tyrannical father-in-law, but is discovered and ends up committing suicide in Siberia, betrayed by all. After its debut in St. Petersburg, the opera, which was intended to be the first chapter of a trilogy on the condition of women in Russia, was enormously successful at home and abroad. Stalin attended a performance in Moscow in 1936; two days later, the famous criticism in Pravda, titled "Chaos Instead of Music," appeared, decrying both the opera and the composer. Years later, Shostakovich prepared a new version, which premiered in Moscow in 1963 under the title Katarina Izmailova , after Superintendent Ghiringhelli had unsuccessfully attempted to secure its premiere at La Scala. Today, the Theatre presents the 1934 version, conducted by Maestro Chailly and featuring the debut of director Vasily Barkhatov.

Ghost of Boris Timofeevič

4 - 30 Dec, 2025

A Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District

Ghost of Boris Timofeevič