Title: Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (Shostakovich) — La Scala Opening Night 2025–26
Streaming: Medici.tv
Date: 7 December 2025
Time: 18:00 CET / 14:00 ART
Theatre: Teatro alla Scala, Milan
Conductor: Riccardo Chailly
Stage director: Vasily Barkhatov
Cast: Sara Jakubiak (Katerina), Alexander Roslavets (Boris), Najmiddin Mavlyanov (Sergei), Yevgeny Akimov (Zinovy), Elena Maximova (Sonyetka), Ekaterina Sannikova (Aksinya), and the Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala
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A major night in the opera calendar
La Scala’s traditional season opening on 7 December—la Prima—remains one of the most emblematic dates in the international opera calendar. This year, the Milanese theatre marks the 50th anniversary of Dmitri Shostakovich’s death with a new production of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, conducted by Riccardo Chailly and staged by Vasily Barkhatov, whose debut at La Scala adds further interest to this high-profile event. Medici.tv will broadcast the performance live, offering global audiences the chance to follow the evening.
A masterpiece marked by controversy
Premiered in 1934 and based on Nikolai Leskov’s novella, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk follows Katerina Izmaylova, a young woman trapped in a suffocating marriage, who—with her lover—murders her husband and father-in-law. Discovered and sent to Siberia, she ends her life in one of the most harrowing final scenes in 20th-century opera. Shostakovich conceived the work as the first part of a trilogy on the condition of women in Russia.
The opera’s early success ended abruptly when Joseph Stalin attended a performance in 1936. Two days later, the infamous article “Chaos Instead of Music” appeared in Pravda, condemning the opera and effectively forcing it off the stage for decades. Shostakovich later prepared a revised version, Katerina Izmailova, premiered in Moscow in 1963—an edition that La Scala once tried, unsuccessfully, to secure.
Returning to the original 1934 version
For this new production, La Scala returns to the opera’s original and uncompromising 1934 score. Sara Jakubiak takes on the demanding title role, joined by Alexander Roslavets as Boris and Najmiddin Mavlyanov as Sergei. With Chailly leading the Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, this Prima promises an interpretation that balances musical precision with the opera’s raw psychological intensity.
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