Opera in three acts
Duration: 1 hour 45 minutes without interval
Music: Leoš Janáček (Composed 1919-21)
Libretto: Composer after Ostrovsky’s play Groza (The Storm)
Premiered: Brno, 23/11/1921

Catalogue Number: JW I/8


Although Kát’a Kabanová marks the beginning of Janáček’s final decade of mature operatic compositions, it equally shows a return to a more traditional ‘operatic’ territory and that of his predecessors (particularly Tchaikovsky). Its downtrodden heroine, the storm and confession scenes (as with Jenůfa) all take us away from the experimental style found in Osud and Brouček. Unlike Jenůfa and his predecessors’ work, Kát'a Kabanová has a more brutally direct style, which is more emotionally pungent and realistic. The opera marks the first opera written after the greatest affection of Janáček’s own life, Kamila Stösslová. The two met, as with Kamila Urválková, in the Moravian spa town of Luhačovice in July 1917, and Janáček again became instantly infatuated. They wrote to each other throughout the last decade of Janáček’s life, although he was more prolific in his correspondence than she. In his continuing scholarship on source material John Tyrrell translated and edited their exchange of letters, which Faber published as Intimate Letters in 1994. Stösslová was the inspiration for many of Janáček’s works in his last period of composition, most famously for most famously for Zápisník zmizelého [A Diary of One who Disappeared], Kát’a Kabanová, Příhody Lišky Bystroušky and Vĕc Makropulos. Janáček had no qualms with professing such inspirational links. He wrote to Stösslová that he ‘always placed [her] image on Kát’a Kabanová when [he] was writing the opera’ and furthermore that ‘you know it’s your work’. As with Jenůfa the opera is a firmly established repertoire piece. There are many glorious moments in the score, though, with its fluid through composed style, nothing that could be considered an ‘aria’ or set piece. Quite apart from some traditional theatricalisms its use of the ‘psychological’ chorus in the third act prefigures the hunt in Peter Grimes, and shares with its exact contemporary Wozzeck (itself an influence on Britten in writing his 1945 opera) a harsh realism united with a universal humanitarianism. It also eschews the cosy domesticity of the close of Jenůfa, preferring instead the harshness of Kabanicha’s final words. It is a great work, and the more mature sister of his early success with Jenůfa. As Max Brod wrote in 1924, 'both in emotional force and technical finish this opera surpassed everything Janáček had written to date. Even Janáček’s disparagers have had to admit the mighty unity of its construction. It is the ripe fruit where Jenůfa, with its occasional inconsistent patches of dreamy colours, was the budding flower - though I hasten to confess my weakness for first flowerings, notwithstanding the many blessings of full summer'.

To read a fuller account of Max Brod's impressions of Janáček’s Kát’a Kabanová please click here.

It took Janáček a long time to get his beloved Kamila Stösslova to come and see the opera which she so clearly inspired. She eventually came to see it only a few months before the composer died. When visiting her and her husband in Písek a few weeks later he inscribed the score of the opera he had given her six years earlier with these words:

Synopsis:

ACT I

The young clerk Ván'a Kudrjás rhapsodizes over the view of the Volga, to the amusement of the housekeeper of the adjoining Kabanov home. They see two men approaching — the overbearing merchant Dikoj and his nephew, Boris Grigorjevic' — and leave quickly as Dikoj continues his castigation of the young man. When the merchant discovers that Kabanicha, matriarch of the Kabanov family, is not at home, he stalks off, leaving Boris to explain to his friend Ván'a why he puts up with such abuse: his parents are dead, and in order to collect his inheritance, he must treat his uncle with respect. As members of the Kabanov household return from vespers, Boris confesses to Ván'a that he is secretly in love with Kát'a, the young wife. The two men depart as old Kabanicha berates her son, Tichon, for his lack of attentiveness. He tries to please her, as does his wife, Kát'a, who tells the old woman they love and respect her. At a sharp reply from Kabanicha, Kát'a enters the house, soon followed by her mother-in-law, and Tichon's temper snaps at being told he spoils his wife. Tichon complains to Varvara, foster daughter of the family, who retorts he would rather drink and forget his troubles than stand up for Kát'a's rights.

Inside the house, Kát'a tells Varvara how free and happy she felt as a child, constantly dreaming. Even now, she admits, she has dreamed of having a lover. Before she can say more about the man who attracts her, Tichon comes to say good-bye: he is leaving on a short trip to Kazan at his mother's behest. Kát'a begs him not to go or else to take her along, but he refuses. When she asks him to make her swear to speak to no strangers during his absence, he wonders what is wrong with her. Kabanicha announces that it is time to leave, adding that Tichon must tell his wife how to behave while he is gone. Tichon dutifully repeats that Kát'a must treat Kabanicha like her own mother and always act with propriety. He bows to his mother, kisses her and Kát'a and hurries away.

ACT II

As the women work on embroidery, Kabanicha criticizes Kát'a for not making a display of grief over Tichon's absence. After she has left, Varvara shows Kát'a the key to the far part of the garden: she plans to meet her lover there and hints that Kát'a might want to do the same, pressing the key into her hand. Kát'a hesitates but decides that fate has willed it: she is going to meet Boris. As darkness approaches, she steps outside. Kabanicha re-enters with the drunken Dikoj, who says she is the only person he can talk to. He complains that people take advantage of his soft heartedness: a peasant recently angered him, but he ended up on his knees to ask the man's forgiveness. As he demonstrates, blubbering, Kabanicha primly tells him to get hold of himself.

Waiting for Varvara in the garden, Ván'a amuses himself with a song about an independent-minded young girl like his sweetheart. To his surprise, Boris appears, having received a message to come there. Varvara arrives, cheerfully picking up Ván'a's song, and they head for a walk by the river. When Kát'a appears, Boris proclaims his love. She is hesitant at first, seeing only sin and ruin, but finally her pent-up feelings pour out, and she embraces him. They too go for a walk as Ván'a and Varvara return, Varvara explaining her precautions in case the old lady should look for any of them. As the rapturous voices of the second couple are heard, Ván'a and Varvara call to them that it's time to go home.

ACT III

Ván'a and Kuligan are walking near the river when an approaching storm drives them to shelter in a ruined building, where other strollers join them. When Dikoj appears, Ván'a tries to conciliate him by talking about a new invention, the lightning rod, but this only angers Dikoj, who insists storms are not electricity but God's punishment. When the rain lets up, people start to leave the shelter, and Ván'a runs into Boris and Varvara. The girl reports that Tichon is back, and Kát'a seems very upset. The men retreat as Kabanicha approaches with Tichon and Kát'a. Bystanders at first assume that Kát'a is frightened by the returning storm, but she confesses to Tichon in front of everyone that she dallied with Boris during her husband's absence. Then she runs out into the tempest.

As evening approaches and the storm has passed, Tichon looks frantically for Kát'a at another spot along the riverbank. While they are helping him, Varvara and Ván'a decide to escape to Moscow, where they can lead a life of their own. As the searchers move off, Kát'a appears, aware that her confession served only to dishonour her and humiliate Boris. Her life is a constant torment, and she longs to see her lover one last time. He wanders in, surprised to find her, and they embrace. he says his uncle is sending him away to another town — but what will become of Kát'a? Her mind wandering, she bids him farewell. As he walks off in sorrow, she thinks how nature will renew itself over her grave, and then throws herself into the river. On the far bank, Kuligan sees her jump and calls for help. Tichon rushes back, followed by Kabanicha, whom he blames for Kát'a's self-destruction. Meanwhile, bystanders fetch a boat and try to help. When Dikoj brings Kát'a's body and lays it on the ground, Tichon flings himself down, sobbing. Coldly, Kabanicha thanks the bystanders for their assistance.



Bibliography:
Ed. John, Nicholas: Jenůfa/Katya Kabanova: Leoš Janáček (London 1985)

Ed. & Tr. Tyrrell, John, Intimate Letters: Leoš Janáček to Kamila Stösslová (London: Faber, 1994)

Tyrrell, John: Janáček’s Operas: A Documentary Account (London: Faber, 1992)

Tyrrell, John: Leoš Janáček: Kát’a Kabanová (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982)

Cheek, Timothy
Singing in Czech: A Guide to Czech Lyric Diction and Vocal Repertoire
(Lanham: Scarecrow Press, 2001)

Timothy Cheek is also preparing a libretto of Kát’a Kabanová, which will contain the original Czech, word-for-word English translations, idiomatic translations (also available as supertitles), IPA, and notes on cultural and stylistic matters.

Editions:
ed. Sir Charles Mackerras (Vienna: Universal Edition, 1992)

Recordings:
Söderström, Dvorský, VPO: Mackerras (Decca 4218522)
Benačková, Straká, Randová, Pecková, Czech Philharmonic: Mackerras (Supraphon CO 3291)