 | Director
Honoured Artist of Russia.
Alexei Stepanyuk has been a stage director at the Mariinsky Theatre since 1993. He studied at the Leningrad State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire and for seven years was principal director at the Chelyabinsk Academic Glinka Theatre of Opera and Ballet.
Alexei Stepanyuk’s Mariinsky Theatre debut came with a production of Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera Sadko. Ever since 1993 this production has enjoyed unfailing success and has been performed at the world’s leading opera houses and at the Edinburgh Festival in 1995. Renowned musicologist John Allison wrote in The Times: “Alexei Stepanyuk’s production is as faithful as it is possible to be. But its authenticity does not make it a museum exhibit, quite the reverse, each of the opera’s seven scenes is filled with true theatrical life. The performance was the highlight of the Festival.” After the Mariinsky Theatre’s tour to Paris in 1995, Christophe Christie reported in Opéra International: “The production of Sadko, without a doubt, was the best of the four productions we saw. It has a refined stylisation and something that conjures up visions of the aesthetics of the Saisons russes. ”Alexei Stepanyuk’s production of Sadko (conducted by Valery Gergiev) has been filmed on video by Philips and NKH.
In 1994 together, with Valery Gergiev, Alexei Stepanyuk staged a production of Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia. The production caused a furore both in Russia and abroad. Renowned Rimsky-Korsakov expert Alexei Kandinsky wrote: “Of the five productions of Kitezh I have seen, the Mariinsky Theatre’s 1994 staging is the most integral, both musically and artistically, a tremendous feat in itself (...) The production holds everything in an ideal balance: the soloists, orchestra, chorus and the directing with highly significant symbolism. And the utterly brilliant scene of Fevronia writing to Grishka was staged musically and dramatically in such a way that, perhaps for the first time, everything was absolutely clear: the end, the time has passed, and next – eternity.”
On tour in New York the production was performed four times and enjoyed huge success, which Edward Rothstein wrote of in The New York Times.
At the Mariinsky Theatre Alexei Stepanyuk has staged productions of Verdi’s La traviata and Stravinsky’s Les noces. In 1995 at London’s Royal Albert Hall, Valery Gergiev conducted the Mariinsky Opera Company in Alexei Stepanyuk’s grandiose production of Borodin’s Prince Igor. After the premiere John Allison wrote: “...Prince Igor, without a doubt, has been one of the most important events of the year.”
Since 1998 Alexei Stepanyuk’s staging of Verdi’s Aida has been performed with unfaltering success. In summer 2004 Alexei Stepanyuk staged a new production of The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia. This was to coincide with the return of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God to Russia.
At Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, Alexei Stepanyuk has given original renditions of operas several years in a row. In 2004 he staged the opera The Queen of Spades and in 2005 came Tristan und Isolde in 2005; future plans include Strauss’ Elektra. Valery Gergiev was the Musical Director of these projects.
Alexei Stepanyuk’s most recent premiere at the Mariinsky Theatre was a production of Bizet’s opera Carmen. In 2008 at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre, Alexei Stepanyuk staged a production of Rodion Shchedrin’s opera The Enchanted Wanderer. In 2009 at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre, the director staged a premiere of a new version of Rossini’s opera Il barbiere di Siviglia.
Alexei Stepanyuk has directed many works abroad, such as Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, staged in 1998 (Artistic Director – Yuri Temirkanov).
Alexei Stepanyuk has worked extensively and to great acclaim in theatres throughout Russia and the CIS (Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine). At theatres in cities including Novosibirsk (where he was Principal Director for three years), Chelyabinsk, Yekaterinburg, Kazan and Krasnodar he has staged over sixty productions. Carmen in Novosibirsk and The Queen of Spades in Chelyabinsk received nominations as best productions of the year at the Golden Mask festival. Alexei Stepanyuk was named “Director of the year” by the newspaper Music Review and the Union of Theatre Workers in 2002.
Alexei Stepanyuk has staged over seventy operas. In 2006 he was awarded the honorary title of Honoured Artist of Russia.
|
