LADY MACBETH VON MZENSK

The truth, Oscar Wilde said, is rarely pure and never simple. The same can be said of Katerina Ismailova, the complex character who drives Dmitri Shostakovichs operatic masterwork, Lady Macbeth of Mtsesnk. She becomes an even less pure and simply figure in the remarkable, for-mature-audiences- only production by the Baltimore Opera Company. Director Uwe Eric Laufenberg sees Katherina as very much the product of a hideously sexist, sex-driven world that is all about domination, duty, conformity. Whatever quibbles can be made about Laufenbergs concept, his sense of theater makes for some memorable images

With this production the company`s nod to the "Vivat! St. Petersburg festival", Baltimore Opera took a mighty risk and met with considerable success. Three performances remain- well worth checking out. Just don`t bring the kids.