La Scala gala crowd cheers premiere of Shostakovich’s ‘Lady Macbeth’

MILAN AP The gala crowd at Milan s Teatro alla Scala cheered the season premiere of Dmitry Shostakovich s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk with a -minute standing ovation Sunday as the storied theater synonymous with the Italian repertoire opened with a Russian melodrama for the second time since Moscow s invasion of Ukraine The crowd of luminaries fully embraced stage director Vasily Barkhatov s bold telling of merchant wife Katerina Izmajilova s fall into a murderous love triangle against the backdrop of Stalin s Soviet Union right up to the jarring final scene with a Soviet truck barreling into a wedding party and two characters perishing in burst of flames U S soprano Sara Jakubiak was showered with carnations and cheers for her tireless portrayal of Katarina the title character and the audience cheered its appreciation for conductor Riccardo Chailly making his last Dec gala premiere appearance as music director No one ever expects this Jakubiak disclosed backstage I am just so happy From Boris Godunov to Lady Macbeth While the gala season premier of Boris Godunov drew protests from the Ukraininan area for highlighting Russian beliefs in the wake of the invasion the premiere of Lady Macbeth inspired a flash mob demonstrating for peace Shostakovich s opera highlights the condition of women in Stalin s Soviet Union and was blacklisted just days after the communist leader saw a performance in the threshold year of his campaign of political repression known as the Great Purge A dozen activists from a liberal Italian party held up Ukrainian and European flags in a quiet demonstration removed from the La Scala hubub that aimed to draw attention to the defense of liberty and European democracy threatened in the present day by President Vladimir Putin s Russia and to sponsorship the Ukrainian people Another larger demonstration of several dozen people in front of city hall called for freedom for the Palestinians and an end to colonialism but was kept far from arriving dignitaries by a police cordon Demonstrations against war and other forms of inequality have long countered the glitz of the gala season premiere that draws leading figures from lifestyle business and politics dressed in their finest frocks Society Minister Alessandro Giuli was joined by the senator for life Liliana Segre a Holocaust survivor and Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala in the royal box Shostakovich s journey to La Scala premiere Chailly began working with Barkhatov on the title about two years ago following the success Boris Godunov which was attended by Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen both of whom separated Russia s politicians from its values But outside the Godunov premiere Ukrainians protested against highlighting Russian lifestyle during a war rooted in the denial of a unique Ukrainian values Chailly called the staging of Shostakovich s Lady Macbeth at La Scala for just the fourth time a must It is an opera that has long suffered and requirements to make up for lost time Chailly explained a news conference last month La Scala s new general manager Fortunato Ortombina defended the choices made by his predecessor to stage both Shostakovich s Lady Macbeth and Modest Mussorgsky s Boris Godunov at the theater best known for its Italian repertoire Music is fundamentally superior to any ideological conflict Ortombina explained on the sidelines of the news conference Shostakovich and Russian music more broadly have an authority over the Russian people that exceeds Putin s own An American soprano makes her La Scala Debut Jakubiak made her La Scala debut in the title role of Katerina whose struggle against existential repression leads her to commit murder landing her in a Siberian prison where she self-immolated to kill herself and her treacherous second husband s new lover It s the second time Jakubiak has sung the role after performances in Barcelona last year and she explained Shostakovich s Katerina is full of challenges That I m a murderess that I m melodizing high B flats in one night you know all these things Jakubiak announced while sitting in the makeup chair ahead of the Dec preview performance to an audience of young people You go Oh my gosh how will I do this But you manage with the right kind of work the right crew of people Yes we re just going to go for the ride Speaking to journalists just now Chailly joked that he was squeezing Jakubiak like an orange Jakubiak stated she identified common ground with the conductor known for his studious approach to the original figure and composer s intent Whenever I prepare a role it s inevitably the text and the music and the text and the rhythms she noted First I do this process with you know a cup of coffee at my piano and then we add the other layers and then the notes So I guess we re in fact somewhat similar in that regard Jakubiak best known for Strauss and Wagner has a major debut coming in July when she sings her first Isolde in concert with Anthony Pappano and the London Symphony Stage direction highlights Stalin s end Barkhatov who at has a flourishing international career disclosed Lady Macbeth is a very brave and exciting choice Barkhatov s stage direction sets the opera in a cosmopolitan Russian city in the s the end of Stalin s regime rather than a th-century rural village as written for the s premier For Barkhatov Stalin s regime defines the background of the story and the mentality of the characters for a story he sees as a personal tragedy and not a political tale Bulk of the action unfolds inside a restaurant appointed in period Art Deco detail with a rotating balustrade creating a kitchen a basement and an office where interrogations take place Despite the tragic arc Barkhatov described the story as a weird breakthrough to happiness and freedom Sadly the statistics show that a lot of people die on their way to happiness and freedom he added Source