Kátya Kabanová 2009English Touring Opera
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The annual visit to the Perth Festival brought two contrasting works in The Magic Flute and Kátya Kabanová. The repertoire for the tour also included some concert performances of Norma, which would have worked very well in the city's shiny new concert hall. For whatever reason, this did not happen, but the two productions that did come were well worthwhile. Katya Kabanova was given on Friday 22 May, and Magic Flute on Thursday 21 May and Saturday 23 May.
ETO had already found that Janáček worked well on the scale they were able to mount, and this was no exception, with an extremely pared-down production style. As always with this company, they sprinkled some experienced artists in with the youngsters, and Fiona Kimm dominated her scenes with the minimum of histrionics. Michael Bracegirdle, good as the juvenile here, was perhaps better suited to Boris, when he joined Scottish Opera's mini-scale tour a few months later.
Performance Cast
- Váňa Kudrjaš a school teacher
- Glaša an old servant
- Savel Prokofievich Dikoj a merchant
- Boris Grigorievich Dikoj's nephew
- Feklusha a pilgrim
- Marfa Ignatyevna Kabanová a merchant's widow, called Kabanicha
- Tikhon Ivanovich Kabanov Kabanicha's son
- Káterina Kabanová known as Katya, Tikhon's wife
- Varvara foster-child in the Kabanov household
- Kuligin a friend of Vána