Written in the white heat of Janáček's passion for Kamila Stösslová, Káťa Kabanová is based on the play The Storm by the 'Russian Shakespeare', Alexander Ostrovsky. Janáček was unhappily married and felt close to the heroine who longed to escape her dreary provincial home and loveless marriage. Káťa begins a disastrous adulterous relationship with Boris.

Her dreams of freedom and torrid nights on the Volga draw stunningly beautiful music from Janáček's pen, in stark contrast to the brutal world that forces Káťa to drown. After last season’s Jenůfa, this production brings together again soprano Corinne Winters in the title role and German director Tatjana Gürbaca.

They tell the story of a desperate search for ecstasy in a narrow, claustrophobic world. If Káťa's final decision is desperate, it is also an escape into nature. And it inspired one of Janáček's most powerful compositions.