We will listen to Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk district by Dmitri Shostakovich

December 7th marks, for the opera world, through a tradition dating back to 1951, the opening of a new season at Teatro alla Scala in Milan. The day was not chosen at random; it coincides with the feast of Saint Ambrose, the patron saint of Milan.

The choice for the opening of the 2025-2026 season is a surprising one-the public is invited to watch Lady Macbeth opera of the Mtsensk district by Dmitri Shostakovich, a work that has never before been presented as a season opener at the Scala. Yet, if we remember that 2025 marks fifty years since the Russian composer's passing, the artistic decision seems more natural. The opera will be presented in its original 1934 version. The event will also mark the fourteenth and final season opening for Riccardo Chailly as the theater's Music Director. Beginning with the next season, this position will be taken over by Myung-Whun Chung, who will also conduct the production on December 7th, 2026. It should be noted, however, that Chailly-whose artistic journey at La Scala began in 1978-will continue to collaborate with the theater in both lyrical and symphonic repertoire.

This year's production brings to La Scala the director Vasily Barkhatov, making his debut on this stage, alongside a major cast: soprano Sara Jakubiak as Ekaterina Izmailova, tenor Najmiddin Mavlyanov as Sergei, and bass Alexander Roslavets as Boris Izmailov.

Shostakovich, the author of both the music and the libretto based on Nikolai Leskov's novella, conceived Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk district as the first part of a trilogy dedicated to the condition of women in different periods of Russian history. The action takes place in the 1860s, during a time of social transformation immediately after the abolition of serfdom (1861), and follows the tragic fate of the young Ekaterina Izmailova. Trapped in a marriage to a weak landowner and subjected to abuse from her father-in-law-including sexual assault-Ekaterina falls in love with the worker Sergei. The discovery of their affair leads to her poisoning of her father-in-law, and the return of her husband precipitates a second murder, committed with Sergei. Their marriage is thwarted, however, when the hidden body is discovered in the cellar. Both lovers are sentenced to hard labor, and on their journey to Siberia, when Sergei betrays her for a younger woman, Ekaterina kills her rival and throws herself with her into the icy waters.

The opera enjoyed immediate success after its premieres in January 1934 in Leningrad and Moscow, with audiences appreciating its direct realism and its departure from the absurdist style of the composer's earlier opera, The Nose (1930). Within just two years, the work saw two hundred performances. However, in 1936, after Stalin attended a performance, the famous condemnation article appeared in Pravda newspaper, leading to the gradual marginalization of both the opera and the composer.

During the Khrushchev era, the composer created a revised version, Katerina Izmailova, with softened erotic scenes and less biting music. This version attracted La Scala's interest in a context marked by the success of the novel Doctor Zhivago, published in 1957 by the Italian publishing house Feltrinelli despite Soviet censorship. Artistic director Francesco Siciliani attempted to secure the world premiere in Milan, without success; nevertheless, the opera did reach the Milanese stage in May 1964, in a production conducted by Nino Sanzogno, directed by Miloš Wasserbauer, with Inge Borkh in the leading role. Later, Mstislav Rostropovich campaigned intensely for the restoration of the original version, which he considered the only one capable of conveying the opera's true meaning. It was only in 1992 that Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk district was presented at La Scala in its initial form, in a memorable production directed by André Engel and conducted by the then young Myung-Whun Chung.

On the occasion of this live broadcast, I also bring you entirely new information provided by one of the most important specialists on Dmitri Shostakovich's work, Prof. Pauline Fairclough of the University of Bristol. Her assertions are surprising, yet supported by profound and extensive research. Among other things, we learn which version of the opera was the composer's preferred one, and another possible explanation for Stalin's reaction to the work.

Dr. Stephan Poen will also join me in the studio.

The live broadcast begins at 19:00.