Leoš Janáček
Katya Kabanova
Short instrumentation: 4 3 3 3 - 4 3 3 1 - timp, perc(2), hp, cel, vla.d'a, str
Duration: 105'
Übersetzer: Ute Becker, Norman Tucker, Alena Wagnerová, Michel Ancey, Max Brod, Reinhold Schubert
Herausgeber: Sir Charles Mackerras, Karl Heinz Füssl
Dichter der Textvorlage: Alexander Nikolajewitsch Ostrowski
Übersetzer der Textvorlage: Vincenc Cervinka
Klavierauszug von: Bretislav Bakala
Libretto von: Leoš Janáček
Choir: Townsmen and women (women silent; TTB) Chorus SATB, offstage
Roles:
Savjol Prokofjewitsch Dikoj
a merchant
bass Boris Grigorjewitsch
his nephew
tenor Marfa Ignatjewna Kabanowa (Kabanicha)
a rich merchant's widow
alto Tichon Ivanytsch Kabanoff
her son
tenor Katherina (Katja)
his wife
soprano Wanja Kudrjasch
teacher
chemist and engineer
tenor Barbara
foster-child in the Kabanov household
mezzo-soprano Kuligin
friend of Kudrjasch
baritone Glascha
female servant
mezzo-soprano Fekluscha
female servant
mezzo-soprano Late-night passer-by
silent Woman from the crowd
alto
Instrumentation details:
1st flute
2nd flute
3rd flute (+picc)
4th flute (+picc)
1st oboe
2nd oboe
3rd oboe (+cor anglais)
1st clarinet in Bb
2nd clarinet in Bb
3rd clarinet in Bb (+bass cl(Bb))
1st bassoon
2nd bassoon
3rd bassoon (+cbsn)
1st horn in F
2nd horn in F
3rd horn in F
4th horn in F
1st trumpet in F
2nd trumpet in F
3rd trumpet in F
1st trombone
2nd trombone
3rd trombone
tuba
timpani
percussion(2)
celesta
harp
viola d'amore
violin I
violin II
viola
violoncello
contrabass
Janácek - Katja Kabanowa
Printed/Digital
Translation, reprints and more
Leoš Janáček
Janácek: Káta Kabanová
Available digitally
Type: Studienpartitur
Language: Deutsch | Tschechisch
Leoš Janáček
Janácek: Káta KabanováType: Dirigierpartitur
Language: Deutsch | Tschechisch
Binding: Hardcover
Leoš Janáček
Janáček: Káta Kabanová - Katja Kabanova
Available digitally
Type: Libretto/Textbuch
Language: Deutsch | Tschechisch
Leoš Janáček
Janácek: Káta Kabanová - Katja KabanowaType: Klavierauszug
Language: Deutsch | Tschechisch
Leoš Janáček
Janáček: Katja KabanowaType: Libretto/Textbuch
Language: Englisch (Großbritannien)
Leoš Janáček
Janácek: Katja KabanowaType: Klavierauszug
Language: Englisch (Großbritannien)
Sample pages
Audio preview
Work introduction
„I feel sorry for her,” Varvara sings in the first act of Janácek’s sixth opera Katja Kabanowa. And this feeling of compassion with a psychically-tortured woman could be a motto of many of his operas. Most of Janácek’s operas deal with individuals oppressed by socially determined facts and conventions, and if they try to resist it often brings fatal consequences.
Janácek decided to musicalize The Tempest (Boure) by Ostrovský probably around the beginning of 1919. It was not surprising that he chose a Russian theme, as Janácek was a cofounder of the Russian Circle in Brno, loved Russian culture and often found inspiration in Russian literature. As soon as the question of using a translation by Vincenc Cervinka was resolved, Janácek started working. He adapted the whole drama by himself. The première of the opera took place in November 23, 1921, in the National Theatre in Brno under the baton of František Neumann. Almost one year later on November 30, 1922, Katja Kabanowa was staged in the National Theatre in Prague, conducted by Otakar Ostrcil. The success was immense, even though reviewers pointed out, that “the crucial mistake was that the opera did not have a fast flowing story”. In 1927 Janácek decided to resolve the connections of individual scenes in the first and second acts by changing the score. He added short interludes into both acts that made it possible to rebuild the scene without interrupting the music flow and thus to interconnect individual scenes. They were restored by Sir Charles Mackerras, who also put them into the newly-published score of the opera.
Katja Kabanowa represents an intimate and lyrical example of a lonely human being and a personal tragedy with no empty or pathetic gestures. It is a story which may be happening even today to our neighbours. This may be why this work still appeals to us, and thanks to its musical production it belongs among the most impressive musical tragedies the 20th century brought.
Jirí Zahrádka