Gran Teatre den Liceu, Barcelona - Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk

Shostakovich's initial idea was to write a trilogy of operas about the tragic fates of Russian women over the centuries; he only succeeded in writing one: Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.

A masterpiece of the 20th century, it is a bleak, existential drama based on a story by Nikolai Leskov from 1865, a time when Russian literature was making its way into the world through authors such as Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. The score was a critical success and immediately became popular in the Soviet Union, but fell out of favour dramatically after Stalin attended one of the performances in Moscow in 1936. An anonymous article in "Pravda" denouncing the play caused Shostakovich to fear for his life. 

It did not return to the stage until 1970. Since that time, it has regained its rightful place.