Sex, murder, and a flooded stage: Bold new production of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk stuns in Barcelona

Ten thousand litres of water dominate the stage of the Gran Teatre Liceu as a symbolic metaphor for the way all of the characters in this powerful opera are implicated in a society riddled with corruption, sexism, and murder.

The premiere of 'Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District' on Wednesday featured this novel addition to the stage but it did not distract from a work which tells the dramatic story of its heroine, Katerina Ismailova.

This four-act opera was jointly written by Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich and Alexander Preys and based on the novel "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District" by Nikolai Leskov.

Originally set in the 19th century Russia, Katerina is unhappily married to a wealthy merchant, Zynoviv, who neglects her, possibly because he is gay.

She dreams of love and a new life far away from the small town where she lives. Her domineering, macho father-in-law Boris harasses her. So, when she comes across the handsome labourer Sergei, she starts a passionate affair, despite trying at first to resist.

Her yearning for freedom drives her to poison her father-in-law using rat poison disguised as a plate of mushrooms. The plot thickens when her boring husband surprises the lovers, and they kill him too.

Rid of the two men who have made her life a misery, Katerina is free to marry Sergei. Or so it seems. 

However, the couple’s wedding plans go awry when a drunken guest comes upon the husband’s body.  Katerina and Sergei are arrested and sent to prison camp. But Katerina is abandoned by her lover who seduces a young convict, Sonyetka. Faced with this betrayal, Katerina throws herself upon Sonyetka and both die in dramatic fashion at the point of a knife.  

Do not expect a 'Don Giovanni' or 'La Traviata' with singalong arias; the music was suitably dark for a tale of tragedy. This could almost be a musical score from a film rather than a traditional opera. But perhaps that is what good opera should do: challenge your perceptions.

Alex Ollé, the artistic director of the Liceu Opera House, said Shostakovich wanted to show a woman who was a victim of the patriarchal society of Stalinist Russia.

He sets the opera in the 20th century, dressing his performers in vaguely modern clothes perhaps as if they were in the 1950s.  

Ollé, one of the founders of the renowned La Fura dels Baus company, also directed the opening ceremony of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. As one might expect, he does not shy away from controversy here. This version of Shostakovich’s work featured two sex scenes, masturbation, a gang rape and three murders.

We are invited to try to make up our minds about Katerina – is she a ruthless, Shakespearean Lady Macbeth without morals or does she merit some respect as a powerful woman pushing back at the suffocating patriarchal society?  This quandary is what makes this work interesting.

The water is not employed as a swimming pool but simply as if the stage had been drenched by a heavy shower. Ollé has not used drinking water from Barcelona, which has suffered drought for months on end. Instead, the recyclable water is taken from groundwater which is purified through a system designed by the theatre.

The water seems a distraction from an opera which works well on its own.

“The water is symbolic: it shows that everyone is involved in corruption, murder. No-one in the society escapes from the police, to the workers or Katerina,” Ollé told Euronews Culture before the performance.

Although first performed 90 years ago, Ollé insists the work is as relevant today as when Shostakovich wrote the work for his wife.  

“This story is relevant today because we are talking about a woman who is subdued by a patriarch, her father in law on one side and from her husband as well as her lover Sergei,” he said.

“She is clearly a victim of machismo. Shostakovich tries to make us empathise, maybe not with the crimes but he wants to make us empathize with the person who is suffering repression under the men who surround her.”   

After its first performance in 1934 in Soviet Russia, the work received a damning review in Pravda, the Russian Communist party paper, from an anonymous writer, who was possibly Josef Stalin. It was banned in the USSR until 1962.  

Ollé believes Shostakovich’s depiction of individuality was an affront against the communist system which led to its ban for almost 30 years.

The soprano Sara Jakubiak was outstanding as Katerina not only for her singing but for her acting. She brought the character alive.

There was real chemistry with her lover Sergei, played by the tenor Pavel Cernoch.   Boris (played by Alexei Botnarciuc) played the harassing father-in-law with powerful style.

Performed in the original Russian, the Liceu provided a translation in three languages – Spanish, Catalan and English – which made the work more accessible for the audience.

After the first break, some parts of the theatre had emptied, proving 'Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk' was not for everyone’s taste. True, it is not an easy opera but perhaps this is just the kind of work it is worth trying; challenge yourself.

This was a fascinating, well-paced opera which kept me gripped to the end.

'Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk' at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, runs until 7 October 2024.