A sensational Kátya Kabanová in Brno shows Janáček at his very best

Kateřina Kněžíková (Kátya) and Peter Berger (Boris)

Kateřina Kněžíková (Kátya) and Václava Krejčí Housková (Varvara)

Kátya Kabanová

Jana Hrochová (Kabanicha), Kateřina Kněžíková (Kátya) and Jan Šťáva (Dikój)

By Dominic Lowe, 09 March 2026

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“the composer’s music is in the essence of both performers and the surrounding infrastructure”

Reviewed at Janáček Theatre (Janáčkovo divadlo), Brno on 3 March 2026

Janáček, Kátya Kabanová

National Theatre Brno

Ondrej Olos, Conductor

Robert Carsen, Director, Lighting Designer

Patrick Kinmonth, Set Designer, Costume Designer

National Theatre Brno Janáček Opera Orchestra

National Theatre Brno Janáček Opera Chorus

Peter van Praet, Lighting Designer

Kateřina Kněžíková, Kátya

Peter Berger, Boris

Jana Hrochová, Kabanicha

Gianluca Zampieri, Tichon

Jan Šťáva, Dikój

Vít Nosek, Kudrjaš

Václava Krejčí Housková, Varvara

Tadeáš Hoza, Kuligin

Hana Kopřivová, Fekluša

Jitka Klečanská, Glaša

Philippe Giraudeau, Choreography

In Brno, a vital and resonant Jenůfa

Frank Kuznik, 3rd October

The Janáček Festival maintains its proud tradition with a brave eleventh-hour performance.

****1

Vom Entstehen einer Oper: Leoš Janáčeks Osud am Janáček-Theater Brno

Rainer Zerbst, 27th November

Robert Carsen schafft eine subtile aber meisterhaft vielschichtige neue Inszenierung.

*****

Handel’s Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno returns to Rome

Pia Maltri, 7th April

Robert Carsen’s staging of Handel's oratorio arrives, via Salzburg, in the city where Handel composed it in 1707.

****1

The game of love: Robert Carsen’s new Così fan tutte at La Scala

Laura Servidei, 8th November

Alexander Soddy leads a great cast in a clever, supremely entertaining new production in Milan.

****1

Canadian Opera's Orfeo returns elegant, restrained and very satisfying

John Gilks, 9th October

The restrained beauty of Robert Carsen’s production of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice is matched by musical elegance in its revival current revival at the Four Seasons Centre.

*****

Eugene Onegin revival fails to find the magic spark in Toronto

John Gilks, 2nd May

Robert Carsen’s 1997 production of Eugene Onegin has aged remarkably well but the latest Canadian Opera Company revival of it doesn’t quite recapture its magic.

***11

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Dominic Lowe

Dominic Lowe recently completed a degree in Classics, and one of his great interests is the reception of Greece and Rome in opera. A regular opera-goer since his very early teens, he is particularly keen on the hidden operatic gems of the 19th century. He is largely based in the South of England.