Milan’s prestigious Teatro alla Scala kicked off its gala season on March 5, 2023, featuring Dmitry Shostakovich’s opera, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. This marks the second time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 that La Scala has showcased a Russian opera. Unlike previous performances, this year’s event saw a flash mob of activists calling for peace, rather than protests against the Russian cultural presence.
The evening featured renowned conductor Riccardo Chailly, who led the orchestra for this highly anticipated gala that draws prominent figures from the arts, business, and politics. Shostakovich’s 1934 opera, set against the backdrop of Stalin’s Soviet Union, critiques the condition of women during a period of severe political repression. Following its premiere, the opera was blacklisted shortly after Stalin attended a performance in 1936, marking the beginning of his Great Purge.
In a quiet demonstration, a dozen activists from a liberal Italian party waved Ukrainian and European flags, emphasizing the need to defend liberty and European democracy, which they believe is currently threatened by President Vladimir Putin‘s regime. The protesters highlighted the opera’s themes of power abuse and personal resistance, aligning them with contemporary struggles.
While a larger gathering of several dozen demonstrators outside Milan’s city hall called for freedom for Palestinians and an end to colonialism, police maintained a cordon to keep them separated from the arriving dignitaries. Such demonstrations have long accompanied the glamour of La Scala’s gala season premieres.
Chailly began collaborating with Russian stage director Vasily Barkhatov on this production two years ago, following the previous year’s gala featuring Boris Godunov. At that event, which was attended by Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, both leaders distinguished Russia’s political actions from its cultural contributions. Outside the venue, Ukrainian protesters expressed their discontent with the focus on Russian culture amid ongoing conflict. This year, the Ukrainian community did not organize separate protests.
Chailly described the staging of Lady Macbeth as a “must,” stating, “It is an opera that has long suffered, and needs to make up for lost time.” Fortunato Ortombina, La Scala’s new general manager, defended the decision to include both Shostakovich’s work and Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov in the theatre’s lineup, traditionally known for its Italian repertoire. He asserted, “Music is fundamentally superior to any ideological conflict,” emphasizing that Russian music holds significant influence over its people.
American soprano Sara Jakubiak made her La Scala debut in the role of Katerina, a character who grapples with existential repression, ultimately leading her to commit murder and end up in a Siberian prison. This performance marks her second time singing the role, having previously performed it in Barcelona. Jakubiak noted the challenges of the character, saying, “That I’m a murderess, that I’m singing 47 high B flats in one night… you manage, with the right kind of work, the right team of people.”
During a recent press conference, Chailly humorously remarked about his demanding approach to directing Jakubiak, likening his methods to “squeezing” her for performance. Jakubiak expressed her appreciation for Chailly’s meticulous approach, stating, “Whenever I prepare a role, it’s always the text and the music. First, I do this process… then we add the other layers and then the notes.”
Barkhatov, at 42, has cultivated a successful international career and described the choice of Lady Macbeth as “very brave and exciting.” His staging transposes the opera to a 1950s cosmopolitan Russian city, contrasting with the original 19th-century rural setting. Barkhatov believes that the story’s tragedy is deeply rooted in the historical context of Stalin’s regime, shaping the characters’ mentalities.
While the opera’s narrative is tragic, Barkhatov described it as “a weird… breakthrough to happiness and freedom.” He added, “Sadly, the statistics show that a lot of people die on their way to happiness and freedom,” highlighting the complexities of the human experience that resonate through Shostakovich’s work.
