ENO, BBC join forces in stunning Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk

Amanda Majeski (Katerina Izmailova)

Amanda Majeski (Katerina Izmailova) and Nicky Spence (Sergey)

John Storgårds

By Mark Valencia, 03 September 2025

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“Amanda Majeski gave a performance of harrowing depth and power”

Reviewed at Royal Albert Hall, London on 1 September 2025

Shostakovich, Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (sung in English with English surtitles)

John Storgårds, Conductor

BBC Philharmonic Orchestra

BBC Singers

Amanda Majeski, Katerina Lvovna Izmailova

Brindley Sherratt, Boris Timofeyevich Izmailov

John Findon, Zinoviy Borisovich Izmailov

Nicky Spence, Sergey

Niamh O'Sullivan, Sonyetka

Ava Dodd, Aksinya

William Morgan, Schoolmaster

Ronald Samm, Tattered peasant

Alaric Green, Office Manager

Sir Willard White, Old Convict

Chuma Sijeqa, Police inspector

Thomas Mole, Priest

English National Opera Chorus

Tavener's Krishna fails to convince in world premiere

Nick Boston, 4th June

John Tavener's “mystical pantomime” proves a disappointment, despite strong performances from singers and orchestra in David Pountney's production.

***11

Antonia Bembo’s Ercole amante wins hearts at the Opéra de Paris

David Karlin, 2nd June

Leonardo García-Alarcón's exhumation of Bembo's work proves a winner, in a hyper-quirky staging by Netia Jones with Julie Fuchs as the pick of the fine singers.

****1

Chasing the American Dream: UK premiere for Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up

Mark Pullinger, 1st June

Amy Lane directs an intimate staging of Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s 2018 chamber opera in the compact Milton Court Theatre.

****1

Longborough Festival Opera season starts slow with Orlando

Eleanor Knight, 30th May

Beth Taylor gives the lows and highs of Handel's heroics an almighty, whole-body shakedown in Sinéad O'Neill’s new staging of Handel's Orlando.

***11

Bang! Mozart’s volcano erupts in Opera Holland Park’s Così fan tutte

Peter Quantrill, 28th May

Mount Vesuvius looms over Cecilia Stinton’s compelling new production of Così fan tutte.

****1

Viennese splendour in Garsington’s Rosenkavalier revival

Roy Westbrook, 28th May

Bruno Ravella's splendid 2021 production of Strauss' opera of Viennese manners returns with a fine cast.

****1

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Mark Valencia

Mark has worked in arts journalism for four decades, both as a writer and as a French-English translator. Nowadays he focuses his energies on reviewing opera and music. Mark also writes for Opera magazine and for Musical America as a correspondent for Europe and the UK.

ENO, BBC join forces in a musically and emotionally stunning Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk