Shostakovich’s ‘Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District’

Live at the BBC Proms: John Storgårds conducts the BBC Singers, the BBC Philharmonic and English National Opera Orchestra & Chorus with star soloists in Shostakovich’s operatic tragedy. In this, Shostakovich’s anniversary year, a chance to hear his blistering operatic tragedy on a theme of oppression and murder. Amanda Majeski stars as Katerina – the defiant “Lady Macbeth” of the title – with tenor Nicky Spence as her lover Sergey, and Brindley Sherratt as the brutal patriarch Boris.

During the interval the cultural historian Rosamund Bartlett talks to Martin Handley about Shostakovich's opera The Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, and its cultural context in Stalin's Russia.

Presented by Martin Handley, live from the Royal Albert Hall and presented semi-staged, in two parts.

Dmitry Shostakovich: The Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (sung in English)
Amanda Majeski, Katerina
Brindley Sherratt, Boris/Ghost of Boris
John Findon, Zinovy
Thomas Mole, Mill-hand/Priest
Nicky Spence, Sergey
Ava Dodd, Aksinya/Convict
Ronald Samm, Shabby Peasant
Alaric Green, Steward
Chuma Sijeqa, Police Sergeant
William Morgan, Teacher
Sir Willard White, Old Convict
Niamh O'Sullivan, Sonyetka
BBC Singers
Chorus of English National Opera
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Brass Section of the Orchestra of English National Opera
John Storgårds, conductor
Ruth Knight, director