Dmitri Shostakovich began to work on Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District in 1930. Based on a plot by Nikolai Leskov, the opera tells of the oppressed Katerina, whose life is disrupted by her intense love for the shady Sergei and who tries to secure her happiness with murder. Upon its completion in 1934, the work was simultaneously prepared by two theatres: the premiere took place in Leningrad and two days later it was shown in Moscow, where, as in other cities, the opera was a great success. Shortly after the first performances, Shostakovich was forced to change sections that were too sexually explicit. After Stalin attended a performance of the opera in 1936 and then published a scathing review about it, colleagues and critics who had previously approved of the opera turned against Shostakovich. It wasn't until some 30 years later that the opera was performed again in the Soviet Union, in a toned-down version under the title Katerina Ismailova; this was also performed internationally. Finally, in 1980 the original version came to Western Europe. In 2009 it was premiered at the Vienna State Opera too. The highly-acclaimed premiere of the original version is featured on this recording.

Ingo Metzmacher, conductor of the premiere of 2009, is a welcome guest at the most distinguished opera houses in Europe and at the Salzburg Festival, where he has conducted world premieres that include Wolfgang Rihm's opera Dionysos, Bernd Alois Zimmermann's Die Soldaten, Franz Schubert's Fierrabras and George Enescu's Œdipe. He is also the author of books on opera and modern composers.

Cast:
- Boris Izmailov: Kurt Rydl
- Zinoviy Izmailov: Marian Talaba
- Katerina Izmailova: Angela Denoke
- Sergei: Misha Didyk
- Aksinya: Donna Ellen
- Tattered peasant: Michael Roider
- Priest: Janusz Monarcha
- Police Inspector: Eijiro Kai
- Teacher: Wolfram Igor Derntl
- Sonyetka: Nadia Krasteva
- Old convict: Dan Paul Dumitrescu