Katya Kabanova by Janáček, From (2017/2017), Directed by Olivia Fuchs, Conductor Sian Edwards, Holland Park Theatre, London, United Kingdom

Janáček’s extraordinary masterpiece, Káťa Kabanová, made a welcome return to Opera Holland Park in 2017 in Olivia Fuchs’s highly-regarded 2009 production. Intensely passionate and sensual, this opera is deemed by many as the composer’s most immediate stage work. You can’t help but sympathise deeply with Káťa as she journeys through internal conflicts of love, adultery, innocence, guilt… feelings heightened by the claustrophobia of a repressed society. Gradually descending into madness, Káťa’s story ends as she commits suicide in a moment of heart-breaking pathos – the composer’s Madama Butterfly. Janáček’s distinctive score brings the drama to life effortlessly, replete with traditional Czech folk styles and lyricism.