Last updated on March 1, 2026
LA SCALA OPENS ITS SEASON WITH SHOSTAKOVICH’S “LADY MACBETH OF THEMTSENSK DISTRICT” — A NIGHT OF TRAGIC POWER AND MODERN VISION
On December 7, 2025, the Teatro alla Scala opened its new season with a work of extraordinary emotional scale — Dmitri Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District. Few operas of the twentieth century possess such devastating force, and few premieres in recent years have carried the weight of this evening in Milan. The production — conducted by Riccardo Chailly and staged by the distinguished director Vasily Barkhatov — revived Shostakovich’s tragic masterpiece in its original 1934 version, restoring to it the full dramatic urgency and psychological sharpness intended by the composer.
ON DECEMBER 7, 2025, THE PREMIERE OF “LADY MACBETH OFTHE MTSENSK DISTRICT” AT LA SCALA RECEIVED AN 11-MINUTE STANDING OVATION FROM THE AUDIENCE.
The opera was first performed on 22 January 1934 at the Maly Opera Theatre in Leningrad — today the Mikhailovsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg. This continuity of place and tradition situates Lady Macbeth within the innovative artistic landscape of a city that has carried more than one name, yet has always remained one of Europe’s great cultural capitals. Shostakovich, then only twenty-seven, created a score infused with psychological intensity, propulsive dramaturgy, and moments of piercing lyricism — a work that is at once deeply rooted in its cultural origins and universally human in emotional scope.
THE OPERA “LADY MACBETH OF THE MTSENSK DISTRICT” IS BASED ON THE NOVELLA BY NIKOLAI LESKOV – A DISTINGUISHED RUSSIAN WRITER WHOSE WORK INSPIRED THIS TRAGIC STORY.
Vasily Barkhatov’s staging in Milan marks a milestone in his career. Known for productions shaped by psychological depth, cinematic rhythm, contemporary visual language, and meticulous work with actors, Barkhatov approaches Lady Macbeth not as a monument but as a living emotional terrain. His debut at La Scala reflects a conviction that this opera demands a director who feels its world from within — someone capable of hearing both the brutality and the fragile humanity embedded in the score.
At the center of the evening stands Sara Jakubiak as Katerina Izmailova,
delivering a performance of remarkable intensity and vulnerability. Opposite her, Najmiddin Mavlyanov brings dramatic force to the role of Sergei, while Alexander Roslavets embodies the oppressive authority of Boris Timofeyevich. Under Riccardo Chailly, the orchestra of La Scala reveals the full emotional spectrum of Shostakovich’s music — from explosive rhythmic avalanches to aching, suspended silences — allowing the opera’s tragedy to unfold with visceral clarity.
Critics who attended the premiere have already noted the production’s bold dramatic coherence, the finely shaped psychological arcs of the characters, and the striking modernity of its visual language. Barkhatov’s staging does not illustrate the music; it listens to it. The result is an opera that feels uncannily contemporary — its themes of desire, confinement, loneliness, and moral collapse resonate with the same force they carried nearly a century ago.
Opening the season with Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District is more than a programming decision for La Scala. It is a statement of artistic ambition — a recognition of the opera’s enduring relevance and a tribute to the uncompromising emotional truth Shostakovich pursued. On this December night, the work was not a historical artifact but a living tragedy, burning with immediacy and human urgency.
TICKETS FOR THE PREMIERE REACHED €3,200, WITH LA SCALA
EARNING €2.8 MILLION THAT EVENING. THE PERFORMANCE WAS ATTENDED BY ITALY’S MINISTER OF CULTURE ALESSANDRO GIULI AND THE MAYOR OF MILAN GIUSEPPE SALA.
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