Káťa Kabanová

A compact yet compelling drama set in a small town along Russia’s Volga River, Kát'a Kabanová centers on a young woman forced to choose between true love and family honor. As with many of the composer’s operatic masterpieces, Janáček supplied a sublime score that deftly combines many of the strains current in the best operas of the early 20th century and created characters who, despite their simple backgrounds, grapple with inner struggles as complicated as any of the repertory’s grandest divas. In this rare Met broadcast of the opera, recorded on Christmas Day 2004, soprano Karita Mattila gives a powerful performance in the title role, starring alongside mezzo-soprano Judith Forst as her unyielding mother-in-law, Kabanicha. Tenor Jorma Silvasti is Boris, the object of Káťa’s love, and bass Vladimir Ognovenko is his rich but cruel uncle, with Maestro Jirí Belohlávek conducting.