Work: Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District

Led by Andris Nelsons, together with the Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Shostakovich festival presents almost the composer’s entire output, from 15th May to 1st June 2025.

Conformist or closet dissident? Dmitri Shostakovich had to adapt, chameleon-like, to the changing political climate in the Soviet Union, toeing the party line where necessary, but planting his music with coded messages.

Covent Garden's Director of Opera talks about directing opera, moving from a start-up to a behemoth and how The Royal Opera hopes to exit from the pandemic.