Kreutzer Sonata – a murder unravelled

“I remember I dreamt that we were on good terms, that we had had a quarrel and had made up again, that something was still troubling us, but we were friends.” – from Kreutzersonate, Leo Tolstoy

Kreutzer Sonata is a powerful musical theatre production about a jealous husband who, blinded by suspicion and wounded pride, recounts the murder of his wife. But he is not alone: his story is driven by the music associated with Tolstoy’s famous novella The Kreutzer Sonata, on which this production is based. The all-female string quartet Ragazze Quartet performs the music: Beethoven’s Kreutzersonate for violin and piano from 1803 plays a central role in Tolstoy’s novella; the story itself in turn inspired composer Leoš Janáček to write his poignant First String Quartet (Kreutzer Sonata).

Inspired by two novels by Tolstoy’s wife, Sofia Tolstaya, which she wrote in response to her husband’s story, the quartet gives voice to the female perspective. Actor Benja Bruijning and the Ragazze Quartet present a multi-layered performance about love, power, art and destruction at a time when femicide remains a painfully relevant topic.