Opera Scotland

Kátya Kabanová 1964National Theatre, Prague

Read more about the opera Kátya Kabanová

The Edinburgh Festival, at this time under the direction of Lord Harewood, was exploring the operatic possibilities behind the Iron Curtain. 1962 had seen the leading company from Yugoslavia in a repertoire largely of Russian masterpieces. In 1963 the Hungarian State Opera and Ballet appeared with a more limited choice of works. Here, the National Theatre from Prague brought an inspiring clutch of five Czech pieces. Two of them, Rusalka and Kátya Kabanová, were receiving Scottish premieres. The other three, Dalibor, From the House of the Dead and Resurrection, were being seen for the first time in the UK.

Kátya was first performed in Britain by Sadler's Wells Opera at its London theatre in 1951. Its conductor was Charles Mackerras, who went on to maintain a unique reputation as an interpreter of the composer's works. However this opera was not brought on Scottish tours, so these three performances represented the opera's Scottish premiere, indeed the first performance in Scotland of any opera by Janáček.