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La Scala opened its season with Shostakovich’s “Lady Macbeth of Mtensk,” a Russian opera censored by Stalin.

Peace activists demonstrated outside the gala premiere, raising questions about staging Russian culture during wartime.

American soprano Sara Jakubiak made her La Scala debut in the title role.

MILAN — The gala crowd at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala cheered the season premiere of Dmitry Shostakovich’s “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk’’ with a 12-minute standing ovation Sunday, as the storied theater synonymous with the Italian repertoire opened with a Russian melodrama for the second time since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The crowd of luminaries fully embraced stage director

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