Most recent performance
There are currently no scheduled performances of From the House of the Dead. It was last on stage 7–24 March 2018 as part of the Spring 2017/18 season.
Introduction
With the arrival of a new prisoner, fellow inmates tell their stories.
Background
From the House of the Dead is Janáček’s final work and arguably his most powerful. Completed just before his death and first performed posthumously in 1930, the opera is based on Dostoyevsky’s semi-autobiographical novel describing life in a Siberian gulag. Janáček does not soften that harsh reality at the heart of his tale, but imbues the work with compassion in its honest depiction of humanity’s difficult truths. The result is one of his most humane and inspiring creations.
Polish director Krzysztof Warlikowski is one of the leading lights in modern opera, acclaimed for his psychologically acute, impassioned and often spectacular productions. Warlikowski sets the story in an all-male modern prison, to explore the savagery of prison life. The absence of women means they become the focus of the inmates’s thoughts, and extreme emotions erupt in casual cruelty and scenes of sexual violence. With a team of regular collaborators, Warlikowski makes his UK debut directing The Royal Opera’s first production of Janáček’s masterpiece.
News and features
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Janáček unpacked: A quick guide to his greatest music
14 March 2018
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Your Reaction: What did you think of Janáček's From the House of the Dead?
8 March 2018
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Opera Essentials: Janáček's From the House of the Dead
23 February 2018
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Watch: A first glimpse of The Royal Opera's From the House of the Dead
20 February 2018
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How do you complete an opera when its composer has died before finishing it?
22 May 2017