a cry for freedom in janáček’s ‘katya kabanova’ | thearticle

This was sensational. Natalya Romaniw as Katya Kabanova gave a terrific performance under the excellent baton of Stephen Barlow. He and the Gascoigne Orchestra brought out the visceral

emotions of Janacek’s opera, first staged in 1921. David Alden’s minimalist staging created a gripping and thoughtful production, illuminating a fatal flaw in the Russian psyche. This may be

a Czech opera, but it is based on a Russian play _Storm_, written by Ostrowsky in 1859 and set in a village on the banks of the Volga. The need to dominate other people, with no thought for

its long term effect, was brilliantly brought out by Susan Bullock as a thoroughly unpleasant and immovable Kabinicha, matriarch of the Kabanov family. Katya is married to Tichon who is

fond of the bottle, and in this production so is his mother Kabanicha, who won’t leave her daughter-in-law alone. She berates her son for treating Katya kindly, and when Tichon has to leave

for a business trip, Katya begs him not to go. Kabinicha is unmoved and demands he issue explicit instructions on how to behave in his absence. After he has gone she complains that Katya is

not outwardly lamenting his absence, and as an escape from this dreadful home life, Katya’s half-sister Varvara persuades her to take a lover. This is Boris, nephew of the pompous merchant

Dikoj who controls Boris’s inheritance until he is 21. In short, Boris lacks agency, and Katya is escaping a situation in which she cannot breathe without being watched over by Kabanicha.

Ten days later comes a great storm, which Dikoj sees as God’s anger, and the science teacher Vanya, lover of Varvara, explains in terms of electrical forces. Superstition versus science,

compelled action versus freedom, and a beautiful contrast between the two relationships Katya/Boris and Varvara/Vanya. In Alden’s production a great crucifix hangs over the stage at the

start of Act III, before being taken down, and the costumes and stage movements for Katya and Boris, versus Varvara and Vanya, form a clear contrast. A closed world versus an open world, and

towards the end when Katya’s infidelity is revealed, Kabanicha says she should be buried alive. This is too much for Tichon, and Katya resolves the situation by throwing herself into the

Volga. At the end of this production the final action is given to Kabanicha as she drags her son off the stage. Excellent lighting by Tim Mitchell and movement by Lynne Hockney in Alden’s

excellent production, the most riveting opera performance I have seen so far this summer. Katie Bray as Varvara was a delightful contrast to Katya, full of life with a touch of naughtiness,

Benjamin Hulett a serious Vanya, Thomas Atkins made a very stylish Boris, and Clive Bayley a superb stage presence as the merchant Dikoj. Anyone looking for great musical drama this summer

can hardly do better than at Grange Park Opera. The intensity of this Czech opera inspires a huge yearning for freedom in this Russian story. A MESSAGE FROM THEARTICLE _We are the only

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