The Czech operatic masterpiece

Based on Czech playwright's Alexander Ostrovsky's play Groza (The Storm), Leos Janacek's hauntingly dark opera in three acts is a tale of passion, betrayal and loneliness. With compositions inspired by the story's Slavic roots in folk culture, the story focuses on the young, bored wife Katya, whose imposing mother in law meddles in her life to the extreme. When at last she succumbs to temptation, events unfold at a harrowing speed, with tragic consequences.

The story encompasses various themes including infidelity, familial abuse and manipulation, as Katya and Boris finally succumb to their passions amidst their respective tragic backgrounds. However, a happy ending does not beckon for our tragic heroine, who after a huge thunderstorm, confesses to her newly returned husband and unable to bear the shame of her actions, takes her own life.