Afternoon Concert

Original version

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Afternoon Concert: Opera Matinee: Janacek's Katya Kabanova

Opera Matinee: Janacek's Katya Kabanova

BBC Radio 3 - Afternoon Concert, Opera Matinee: Janacek's Katya Kabanova

From the 2018 Brno festival, Janacek's tragic opera depicts a woman desperate for love.

From the 2018 Janáček Brno festival, Janacek's tragic opera depicts a woman desperate for love but constrained by society, a weak husband, and the mother-in-law from hell.

Brno hosts the largest festival dedicated to Janáček’s operas and it was at the 2018 Janáček Brno festival that today's opera matinee Kátya Kabanová was recorded - conducted by Ondrej Olos and in a production by Robert Carsen with soprano Pavla Vykopalová in the title role. Kátya Kabanová is based on Vincenc Červinka’s Czech translation of The Storm, a play by Alexander Ostrovsky. The action takes place in a small, isolated Russian town on the banks of the river Volga. In this repressive society in which rules and appearances are all that matter, Katya feels trapped. Unhappily married to Tichon, who is dominated by his bitter and controlling mother Kabanicha, she longs to escape. When Tichon goes away on a journey, Kátya lets Tichon's foster-sister Varvara persuade her to meet her young neighbour Boris. While Varvara enjoys a tryst with her own lover Kudrjáš, Boris and Kátya meet and fall in love. When Tichon returns Katya's guilt and regret prove more than she can bear. For a full synopsis, see below.

2pm
Leoš Janáček: Kátya Kabanová
Katya Kabanova ..... Pavla Vykopalová (soprano)
Boris Grigorjevič, Katya's lover ..... Magnus Vigilius (tenor)
Tichon Kabanov, Katya's husband ..... Gianluca Zampieri (tenor)
Kabanicha, Tichon's mother ..... Eva Urbanová (contralto)
Dikoy, Boris’ uncle ..... Jiří Sulženko (bass-baritone)
Varvara, foster daughter of the family ..... Lenka Čermáková (mezzo-soprano)
Kudryash, Varvara's lover ..... Jaroslav Březina (tenor)
Kuligin, friend of Kudryash ..... Igor Loškár (baritone)
Feklusha ..... Jitka Zerhauová (mezzo-soprano)
Žena. a woman in the crowd ..... Hana Procházková (contralto)
Janáček Theatre Chorus
Janáček Theatre Orchestra
Ondrej Olos (conductor)

c.3.35pm
Arthur Bliss: Meditations on a Theme by John Blow
BBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus
Sir Andrew Davis, conductor

c.4.10pm
Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 3 'Pastoral'
Elizabeth Watts, soprano
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Martyn Brabbins, conductor

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Opera Matinee: Janacek's Katya Kabanova

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