The striking thing about the drowning scene in Katya, is that it happens
so quickly and suddenly and the next thing we know, she's found and
fished out ad Kabanicha prosaicly says, "Thanks, all".  It's not realistic.
Death, in music, may often portrayed as something simple, but it's not.

"A river runs through it", of course, constantly reminding us that there
is a world beyond the muddy, grim little hamlet.  Similarly the storm
evokes nature bursting forth, just as passion bursts from repressed
decorum.  In some productions, no doubt, much is made of these symbols
because they are so glaringly obvious.  I have no idea what the concept
behind the San Francisco production was, but other interpretations might
not be anathema if well thought through.  (note the "if").  Katya may
be a sweet noble thing but her hold on reality isn't that firm.  There
is something not quite stable in her neurotic need to have others think
for her and to have oaths and rules control her life.  Janacek liked
women who presented themselves as vulnerable little ninnies though they
got their own way regardless.  Among the many things Janacek dropped
from the original play, was a stronger, more full blooded personality:
the original Katya was tougher, knowing that she could actively escape,
symbolicly defeating Kabanicha.  Janacek told Kamila that Katya was such
a delicate, butterfly like creature she would wither in full sunlight.
It says much about what he thought of women.  No adult responsibilities!
She manipulates Tichon with the dramatic farewell, not because she misses
him per se but because she's afraid of facing her own needs.  She may
act like a victim but she gets what she wants.  And it's not really
Boris.  No one forces her to confess and debase herself, or jump in the
river for that matter.  The confession is her catharsis and now she has
a reason.  While it's very pretty, her memories of childhood and visions
of birds flying over her grave and red yellow and blue flowers are a tad
coy.  Sure we have that lovely bit with the clarinet and drum, but this
is supposed to be a grown woman wracked with guilt.  So maybe the chafing
dish and puddle signify - Katya's shallow!!!!

So fry me in the sunshine, to paraphrase Janacek, but if this is a
psychological drama rather than a naturalistic narrative it may be worth
bearing in mind, even if it is sacrilege and so ironically in counterpoint
to the music.  I can't for the life of me imagine Karita Mattila a victimy
wimp, she's much too real and womanly.  So I would not venture that the
San Francisco production even dreamed of the concept.  When Katya offs
it she is supposedly choosing purity and refinement and leaving the
sordid world of Kabanicha.  And maybe she does.  I've often visualised
her spirit not drowning but soaring off in a blaze of light gradually
fading as Tichon and his mum squabble.  But a good production should
be thought through thoroughly and not in bits.

Anne Ozorio <[log in to unmask]>